Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force or CETaF
by 10th Muse
Summary: Emily stayed in at the end of S7. And is now the new Unit Chief of Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF. As equals, she and Hotch clashed in their cases but at the same time they realized they had a lot more in common that they could no longer deny. The only obstacles were Beth Clemmons and Dan Reader. But who is Dan Reader? Will feature the BAU team! Rated T for strong language
1. Chapter 1

**A new Multi -Chapter story .**

**It's going to be a Hotch/Prentiss shipper (of course!)**

**This is set right after HIt and RUN end of Season 7 - as you can see, Emily did not take the INTERPOL gig. Instead she was offered something else; to run the Child Exploitation Task Force or CETaF which used to be Andi Swann's unit.**

**Yes, Emily is the new Unit Chief of the this department!**

**Sparks between her and Hotch will strike most certainly as they are now equals!**

**What about Beth Clemmons? Oh, she will be in here (sorry folks, yes...gotta have some excitement or aggravation).**

**And to heat some competition up; Emily will meet a guy she 'falls' in love and it's going to get Hotch's dander up. REAL competition!**

**No worries folks...all will end ...I hope.**

**I hope you'll give this story a chance!**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

**10th Muse (formerly Persephone Muse)**

**. **

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitations Task Force / CETaF

Chapter 1

.

A new extended department called Child Exploitations Task Force (CETaF) was established more than ten years ago by SSA Andi Swann. She had since been promoted and transferred out of Washington DC.

Now, a new Unit Chief was placed; SSAIC Emily Prentiss.

Yes, the same one and only Emily Prentiss, formerly BAU profiler agent.

Right after apprehending the notorious international Queen of Diamonds, Izzy Rogers, Emily did not take Clyde Easter's offer to run INTERPOL in London. She just couldn't see herself running out of the country.

No, she was no coward; well, slightly. Instead she took a transfer.

She ran into Andi Swann that evening as she was heading home.

They chatted all night at the local diner; Andi told her of her own upcoming promotion and subsequent move to the main Hill.

And the need of a new replacement…hence she wanted Emily to run in her shoes.

Emily felt honored; she had heard so much about the legendary agent.

What about Section Chief Erin Strauss?

Andi laughed and shrugged; what about the "Ice Queen?" She pointed.

Emily had chuckled.

The ball began to roll so to speak and within a fortnight; SSAIC Emily Prentiss was now the new Unit Chief of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force or CETaF.

…

"Damn it, Chili!" Emily griped as she stared at the large screen before her. "Why am I staring at a blank screen?" She turned around irritably at her technician.

The man in question, Chilton 'Chili' Tillman was calmly typing into his computer screen; he was not looking up at the big screen hence ignoring her.

"Chili! Don't you ignore me!" She warned him.

Pushing his glasses up his nose, he calmly said, "Boss, I'm trying to triangulate the co-ordinates as fast as these god-damn computers can do. Getting your tongs up in a wad will not do anyone any good."

The other agents in the room snickered at his sassy remarks.

Emily glared at him for a moment before she balled a piece of paper and threw it at him; it hit him squarely in his face.

He paused for a moment before he looked up and stared at her, "You know, that is such a juvenile act, Agent Prentiss. My Angelique doesn't even act like that." He shook his head before he bent his head down and continued typing. "And we're back on…" He looked up at the large screen. "…Maleficent…" He uttered softly under his breath.

Emily turned to glance at him as she gave him her middle finger, "Thanks Chili…and if I had _her_ powers, I'll reduce you to pulp." She turned back to the screen amid more snickers from the others. "Okay everyone…focus...we're back on Bossier City, LA."

….

Four hours later, across the BAU department:

Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid were sitting adjacent to each other….

"Hey Reid," Morgan threw a piece of balled up paper that hit on Reid's head dead on causing the young man to look up irritably at his long-time friend and colleague in question. "What do you think of Princess working in CETaF?" He grinned.

Reid thought for a moment and shrugged as he leaned back in his seat, "Not a lot, Morgan. I think it's a great idea. Why?"

Morgan shrugged, "Nothing, I'm just surprised she took that job; I thought she was leaving for London."

Reid frowned, "She was?"

Morgan shook his head, "Never mind, Reid. You don't get it."

"Get what?" JJ came over from her office as she dumped her pile of folders onto Reid's desk, a resounding protest came from him as he leaned over to check them.

"I'm not doing them, JJ." He shook his head.

"Spence…I promise Henry I'm taking him to Jumble Jim's Restaurant."

"Hey, I wanna go too!" Morgan's face lit up.

JJ shook her face, "Really Derek? That place is for kids."

Morgan was undeterred, "But it's babe magnate, JJ."

JJ rolled her eyes, "Those women are straddled with at least five kids each below the age of three!" She chuckled. "YOU don't need that kind of stress and stupidity, Derek. Trust me, date a single woman."

Derek shook his head and went back to his work.

"Hey," Alex Blake rolled her chair over, "How about we go to Johnson's?" She stared at the team. "I heard it's pretty good chow, and kid friendly." She smiled, "And I know of a very attractive waitress who's very single that gives very excellent customer service with a pearly white smile." She laughed.

Derek instantly snapped back to Blake, "Really?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "Oh yes! She is very wonderful, and has very strong biceps; can carry a very large tray of food." She laughed.

Derek immediately stood up, "Count me in, I'm starving." As he picked up his jacket and bag.

"But our work?" Reid pointed at the pile JJ just dumped on his desk.

Derek shook his head, "Oh no, that's yours, my friend. JJ volunteered you, Right?" He looked at her for confirmation, she nodded.

Reid slumped on his chair in defeat, "Any chance this waitress has a girlfriend?"

Blake thought for a moment and shook her head, "Umm…I don't think so." She was also standing up as she grabbed her bag, "I am starving too. They make a mean Corn Beef Sandwich." And began to move towards the double glass doors when Hotch and Rossi came out of their respective offices with their go-bags.

"Sorry folks." Hotch announced from the catwalk as they team looked up with dread; they spotted their go-bags.

Morgan stopped with Blake, "Where are we heading?"

"Bossier City, LA. Two women dead, four teens missing." Hotch announced. "And we're working with CETaF."

As if right on cue, Emily and another female FBI agent came into the BAU department.

"All ready, guys?" Emily grinned at them. "Looks like old times, only different scumbags."

Slummed shoulders, Reid grabbed his satchel bag and walked towards Emily, "I hate it when you look extremely cheerful, Emily."

She beamed at him, "Aw, Spencer! I miss your cheery face too!" She smacked the back of his shoulder, prompting him to jerk his body forward.

JJ shook her head as well, "You are so not missed at all, chicka!" she groused as she walked passed her friend and headed for the elevators.

Blake and Morgan stared at her, "We were about to grab chow. I have not eaten."

Emily grinned at her old partner, "They make smashin' Jambalaya down South, my friend." She began to walk with them to the elevators as well."

"I hate you, Em." Derek held his hand to stop her from walking with him.

She laughed as she shook her head, "If it makes you feel better, I'll treat you to your favorite…Orange Sherbet!" She laughed more.

But all Derek did was shot her an angry look as the elevator doors closed on her face.

Emily shook her head.

Five minutes later, the next car came as Rossi, Hotch and Emily stepped in; her agent had joined the others earlier.

The three agents rode in silence for a moment before Rossi spoke, "Seems like old times."

Hotch and Emily nodded, "Yeah only this time, it's a little different." Emily remarked. "I'm no longer with you guys."

Rossi shook his head, "No matter, we're in the same agency."

"That's the truth." Hotch nodded. He tuned to look at Emily, "How's CETaF?"

She shrugged, "Just like the BAU but we deal live scumbags."

Hotch nodded, "Yeah, I see what you mean. This one, he's kidnapping and selling."

Emily nodded and sighed, "Same MO everywhere, except he's killing the mothers first."

Hotch nodded, "That's where we come in, find out who's killing them, we'll find the kids."

Emily nodded, "I hope we find the girls before they're sold out of the country. Once out of the country, all's lost." as they stepped out of the elevator and headed out.

Hotch and Rossi exchanged stunned looks.

….

End of Chapter 1

.

Let me know what you think! Please if you will review! i'd appreciate it!

Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! Thank you all for the great reviews! Very encouraging! And now here's Chapter 2!**

**.**

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 2

.

As both teams settled in the jet, Emily briefed the BAU team of the gravity of the situation.

"As you can see," She passed out the photographs of the dead mothers. "Both are single parents; they went into the Internet on the presumption of looking for Mr. Right."

"…And met Mr. Killer…" JJ muttered as she passed along the photos.

Emily nodded, "Well, that is correct. He's a smooth one, make no mistake about it. Knows all the right words to hit on them."

"And they are?" It was Blake who posed the question.

Emily looked up at her, "He empathizes her plight of being a single parent, her husband or boyfriend…"

"Babies-mamma." Reid interjected."

Everyone stared at him unexpectedly.

He blushed, "I….I came across the word…uh…it means, the mother of the children…" He immediately glanced down at his paperwork and snapped his mouth shut.

Morgan was grinning widely, "I'm real proud of you, Reid. You're growing up so fast before me, his first real word…babies-mamma!" He shook his head.

Emily grinned, "Yeah, to put it simply, babies-mamma."

"What does he want with these teens?" Rossi asked. "And is it specifically just young females?"

The FBI agent who accompanied Emily stood up and spook, "No. We have been tracking this trafficking ring for more than half a year. But this is the latest and closest news we've been able to get."

"This is Agent Paris O'Neil." Emily introduced her to the BAU team. "She came to us from the West Coast with six years of white collar crime and some child trafficking cases out there."

Agent Rally waved shyly to the others as she sat down in her seat.

"Emily," Hotch spoke up. "The mothers…their insecurities are the crux."

She turned to Hotch and nodded, "That's where you and your team come in." She passed him another sheet of paper. "Chili just handed this before we left Hoover."

"Chili?" Rossi arched his brow.

Emily looked up, "Oh…he's a computer nerd…like Garcia."

_Talking 'bout me?_

They all turned with a start at the screen; it was Penelope Garcia, she was wearing her garish hot-pink acrylic glasses and her sucker in her mouth.

Emily grinned, "Oh…Hi Garcia!" She waved at her friend. "…Speaking of the computer devil."

Garcia grinned as she pulled out her sucker; _and a hello to you too, Emily of the CETaF, whatzup?_

Emily shook her head, "Not…what do you have?"

Garcia pouted for a moment; _you know Emily…I really wish sometimes you had taken that INTERPOL job…you're always, always bursting my bubbles!_

Hotch interrupted her conversation, "Garcia…do you have something for us?"

She nodded at him; _Yes, Bossier Parrish PD just called…they found another DB; white female, age 44. TOD estimated two days. Trisha Yarborough, single with two teens, 12 and 13._

"And status of teens?" Hotch asked her.

Garcia shook her head sadly; _Missing as we speak, my captain._

Hotch nodded, "We're on the way, Garcia. Notify Bossier PD."

She nodded; _Yes sir. Garcia out…and good luck to both teams!_

The connections were soon severed and the screen was replaced by the standard FBI logo.

Hotch turned his attention back to Emily, "Your call, CETaF." He said softly.

She nodded, "SOP to the BAU."

He nodded, "Standard Operating Procedures it is." He then turned to his team and began handing out assignments.

…..

As the teams gathered in the local Bossier Parrish PD, Hotch began the briefing, filling in the necessary information to the sheriff and his deputies.

"So, you're saying this Un…Sub?" The Sheriff frowned as he tried to sound out the unusual word with his deep Southern accent. "Is targeting teenage girls and after drugging them, he transports them out of the country?"

Hotch nodded gravely.

"Why?"

"Slavery." Emily interjected.

Hotch gave her short look which Emily backed off a little; it was his briefing.

Hotch nodded, "As SSAIC Prentiss said, this is an International slavery trafficking ring."

The Sheriff's eyebrows shot up high above his hairline, "What did you say? Slavery? In this age? Here in my Parrish?" He began to shake his head.

"Sheriff Dean, believe it. This is a very highly sought after commodity." Hotch stressed to him.

The Sheriff held his hand out, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, Agent Hotchner. You are talking about these girls as if they are…are a meat or some play pretties!" He began to take some deep breaths and continued. "I'm fine….Just give me some time to absorb this."

"Sheriff," This was from Emily. "If you think you can't do this…"

Hotch snapped his head at her, "Emily! Not now…!"

She glared at him, "We don't have the luxury to wait, Hotch! There are five girls missing! Time is crucial here!"

The BAU team was watching Hotch and Emily with concerned looks.

"Emily, this is not your call." Hotch shook his head slightly.

The Sheriff glanced at one and then the other in bewildered look, "Well, I appreciate both of your concerns but" He sighed, "But we have no choice but to let you folks handle this. The third woman, Trisha Yarborough. She's quite a troubled one. We've been dealing with her since she graduated from High School and had them youn 'uns and them daddies…" He shook his head again. "No one knows who them crack heads are."

Hotch and Emily nodded, "We'll find them as best we can, Sheriff." Hotch nodded at him.

"I hope so, Agent. They're mighty sweet girls, never bit o' trouble, just that mamma of theirs. But I'll tell ya, the court here in Benton's been trying to get them girls to their grandparents' custody which would be the best thing. They are mighty nice folks." He nodded appreciatively. "Good Godly folks, they lived nearby in Arkansas…'bout 60 miles from here. Real good folks." He nodded at them before moving on.

Hotch turned to Emily, "Okay, first thing. We'll visit the Coroner." He glanced to his right and saw the BAU team trying to look busy but he knew their body languages.

"Okay…change of plans…we'll send Morgan and your agent to the ME to look at the third vic."

Emily nodded. "Rossi and Blake to the crime scenes?" She suggested.

Hotch thought for a moment before he nodded, "Sounds good, and Reid and JJ can stay here with us; we'll work with media sourcing."

"Hmmm…." Emily grinned, "Garcia and Chili time."

"Huh?"

She shook her head and chuckled, "My comp-geek's nick name is Chili."

He frowned skeptically, "Oh…I see, I think. Moving on from Bacon Doughnut Kevin Lynch to this Chili. I like the improvement." He muttered as he looked down at his usual folder of papers with a slight grin on his face.

She laughed at him for a bit before the two Unit Chiefs moved on and began handing out assignments to their teams.

Rossi shook his head as he muttered to Blake, "I see someone still has his sense of humor and they had settled their first differences."

Blake looked at Rossi in confusion, "Is there something I should know?"

He shook his head, "If you only know about these two. But let's go, Alex. Duty calls."

She nodded as she moved along with him, "You know, I'd love to hear about these …stories…"

"Oh, I think there's gonna be some interesting … roadblocks ahead of us." JJ grinned as she moved about the desk, her smile pasting on her face.

Reid frowned at her, "What stories?"

JJ shook her head, "Just get your maps up on the board…baby-boy."

….

End of Chapter 2

….


	3. Chapter 3

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 3

.

"Garcia, meet Chili, or Chilton Tillman." She nodded at her computer technician via satellite.

"Hello, Chilton, nice name." Garcia nodded at him.

Blonde brows arched high, Chili nodded as he grinned at his screen, "Well, I could say the same for you, Gar. Ci. A."

Penelope frowned at him, "Are you making fun of me?"

Chili shook his head, "Not at all, gorgeous. My step mother is an 'Alvarez'. Although she does not own a drop of Hispanic blood in her veins." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's just by marriage she obtained and never bothered to change it back to Jablonski."

Garcia began to laugh, "We have got to meet up face to face, Chili."

"Okay, you two." Emily grinned at the dual screens. "What do you have so far from your neck of the woods, Chili?"

"Well, from the looks of Facebook and other social media websites, it's been quiet so far."

"Quiet?" Emily repeated. "What's going on?"

Chili shrugged, "Dunno, boss. I think they're gonna ship 'em out."

Emily turned to face Hotch who had been standing by her side.

"We have to locate them before dawn."

He nodded, "That's three more hours. Garcia, can you get ahold of any of these girls' information on their chats…maybe they might have hinted they are going out of town or something before they went missing?"

Garcia nodded as she began typing.

"Chili, get on it, too." Emily urged her technician as well.

He nodded, "Got it, and my fingers are yours to command, Oh Maleficent."

Garcia stopped typing as she stared at the screen, "Did he just call you…Maleficent?"

Hotch had looked up as well.

Emily groaned, "He's sleep depraved, people." She muttered.

Garcia shook her head as she continued with her work.

Hotch leaned over to Emily, "Seriously, you've earned a strong nickname already in your unit?"

She leaned away from him, "I…" She shook her head, "I…it was not really a nick name."

He shook his head, "It suits you."

She glared at him, "It most certainly does not, Hotch!"

He didn't look up again as he said softly, "Yeah…it does, Maleficent."

Emily closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again, "Meanie."

….

The elderly parents, Joseph and Ida Denton, looked as if they had aged more than their late fifties when they arrived at the ME.

Not a word was spoken as Mr. Denton nodded, having confirmed his daughter's body.

Leading them back to the lobby, Morgan and Agent O'Neil sat them into a small room and gave them a few minutes to compose themselves.

Wiping tears from her wrinkled face, Mrs. Denton looked up and said, "Do...do you know who…who did this to Trish?"

Agent shook her head, "No, Mrs. Denton…we were hoping you'd help us." She looked at Derek for confirmation.

He nodded, giving her some encouragement to continue; he noticed the Dentons were comfortable with O'Neil.

Mrs. Denton shook her head, "But…but…Trish…she never went anywhere…she's usually broke." She spread her hands out in defeat. "And if she has money to spare, it goes to her habits."

Morgan leaned forward, "Habits?"

Mrs. Denton nodded as she looked at her husband who nodded and took over.

"Trisha use weeds and Marijuana. She's hooked to that damned stuff."

"Joseph!" Mrs. Denton chastised her husband, "Do not swear in front of these law folks here. They are helping us find our grand babies." She hitched her tears again as she wiped her eyes again. "I want my grand babies found."

The older man closed his eyes as he leaned forward and patted her back, "There, there, mamma…these folks here… they'll get 'em young'ums back."

O'Neill nodded sympathetically, "We'll try our best, Mr. and Mrs. Denton, you can be assured. We have agents and your Parrish deputies out there looking for them."

The Dentons nodded sadly, "Thank you…it's all we can hope for. Thank you."

"Mr. Denton," O'Neil nodded at him. "I know this might be difficult…but do you know who might be helping Trisha with her habits?"

Joseph Denton nodded, "His name is Colt Tucker. He's a no good son-of-a-bitch who's been a thorn in these parts of the city."

Mrs. Denton began to nod and cry again.

Mr. Denton, "He runs a bar and motorcycle repair shop between Bossier City and Benton but everybody knows he is also supplying young folks with 'em drugs." He sighed with exhaustion."

Morgan snapped his head, "Do you know for sure?"

The older man nodded as he wiped his eyes, "I don't know who his supplier…Trish talks about it most times. She helps sometimes to make some money." He shook his head. "Shouldn't have done it but she needed the money to get 'em young'uns food and all and she's mighty proud to ask Mamma and me for hand outs."

Mrs. Denton nodded as she added, "She never admits it but she'd come by once in a while with the babies in fancy clothes and she will be wearing some nice trinkets herself. Says she bought 'em at Wal-Mart." Then she frowned, "But the next week, she pawned 'em at Eddie's Pawn Shop 'cause she'd need money for food for the girls."

"It's a cycle for her every month until the girls' welfare checks comes in."Joseph Denton added. "Please find my granddaughters, Agents." He begged them again.

At the end of the interview, Morgan and O'Neil relayed all they learned to Hotch and Prentiss and headed back to Bossier Parrish PD.

…..

"This is certainly an unusual place for kidnapping." Dave looked about him.

The place in question was the outskirt of a bar and motor-repair shop.

At the moment it was still cordoned off by the local Sheriff's Department.

Shining their high powered flash-lights, the FBI agents looked carefully on the grounds. "Why do you say that, Dave?" Blake was concentrating on a patch of ground littered by broken beer bottles and papers.

"Well, a bar and a motorcycle repair shop. Drink while my bike gets repaired. I don't know if I'd want to drive off drunk after my bike's fixed." He shook his head but Alex couldn't see him in the dark. "He's gonna wreck the bike when he goes out that road again."

Alex looked up at him this time, "Hmm, I see you point. I wonder what the statistic on this road accident data?" She was looking contemplative.

Dave stopped what he was doing and stared at her, "Alex, it was a rhetoric question."

She frowned and shook her head, "I…not getting it, Dave…do you want me to answer it?"

He sighed long, "Sometimes I don't know if it was much more fun or torturous to work with you or the kid." He began to move far from her.

Alex studied him for a while before she shrugged, "Sometimes I don't who I'm really working with…" She bent down and continued her examinations of the mess when she spotted something unusual; torn phone records.

"Dave, look at these records…" Alex pointed at them.

Dave began to read a sheet, "You might have something here…" He took out his cell phone and began to dial Garcia's number.

Fifteen minutes' later, the two agents were rushing towards their SUV and talking to Hotch and Prentiss.

"They're heading to I-10! Possibly New Orleans Port of Call." Rossi exclaimed.

…

"You handled the interview pretty well, O'Neil." Morgan nodded at her as they rode back to the PD.

She gave him a return node, "It was not my first time rodeo, Agent Morgan."

He frowned at her, "Did I do something wrong?"

She shook her head, "No, not at all." She stared ahead of her.

"Look, did Emily say something about me?"

"Emily?"

"Yeah, SSAIC Agent Emily Prentiss. Your Supervisor." He pressed. "Did she warn you about me?"

Again she shook her head, "Not that I recall."

Exasperated, he shook his head, "Look, I get the vibes. I can tell I had done something."

"Like what?"

"You tell me." He prompted.

She shook her head, "You tell me, Agent Morgan."

He sighed, "Look, how about we drop this Agent Morgan thing and you can call me Derek…" He glanced at her and smiled.

She turned to him, "And you can call me Paris?"

He nodded enthusiastically, "Yes!" He smacked his hands on the steering wheels. "Yes! I want to know how did you end up with that name!"

She shook her name, "I don't know. My parents had me when they honeymooned in Paris."

Disappointed, Morgan dropped his grin, "Oh. That's it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, that's it. What? You expected something greater?"

He shrugged, "I thought it might be."

She laughed, "Sorry to disappoint you, Chocolate Boy…"

His eyes bulged suddenly, "Wait a minute! Chocolate Boy…So, Prentiss did tell you about me!"

She nodded, "Well, she warned me about you."

He laughed, "Don't you believe her, I am really N.I.C.E. beneath all this chiseled muscles." He circled his chest for emphasis with a wide smile.

O'Neil shook her head, "Just like Agent Prentiss warned me…and I agree with her, not buying it."

"There's a conspiracy around the Unit - HOLD ON!" Derek suddenly yelled as he held his hands out to brace O'Neill beside him as he stomped on the brakes hard!

He had suddenly saw a figure crawling out from the right side of the ditch but it was too late as the SUV hit it… and it rolled over to the other side, over and over until it came to a stop on the side of the slope.

…..

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 4

.

"Spence, it's not going to jump out of the map if you keep looking at it." JJ groaned.

Reid continued to ignore her.

"Spencer Reid…I'm going to strip…" she muttered.

No answer.

"I'm not wearing any undies…"

No answer.

"Urrgh!" She shook her head and left the room.

Reid lifted his head and snapped to the door, "What do you mean no undies? JJ?" He ran after her. "But I figured the possible routes! JJ!"

…

Hotch was still on the phone with Dave, "Hang on, Dave. We're coordinating with LA Highway troopers along I-10." He glanced over to where Emily was talking to Sheriff Dean who was talking to dispatchers.

"They are on alert for anything suspicious. Large vans, transporters or even SUVs. Good call, by the way."

_Aaron, this is a much bigger ring than it looks. The phone records Blake has indicate logs all over the South. Louisiana is only the tip of the iceberg. _

Hotch nodded, "Dave, we can only work what we're assigned; we'll have to hand this to DEA. The bad news is that Colorado and a few more states are on the verge of going green with legalizing Marijuana."

_Yeah, heard 'bout that rumor mill too, not crazy about the idea but not a lot we can do 'bout it, Aaron._

Hotch shook his head, "Welcome to the 21st century and all."

Dave chuckled, _That's about right, Aaron. I'll see you in a moment._

"Roger that."

Emily came over to Hotch, "Is that Dave?"

Hotch frowned at her, "How did you know?"

She grinned at him and shrugged, "I just know. Did they find anything useful?"

He gave her a look but told her about the phone records.

She nodded, "Hmmm…DEA and ATF stuff….yada, yada, yada." She muttered.

"Yada? What is that?"

She turned to him, "Don't you watch Seinfeld?"

He shook his head, "Must have fallen asleep studying my midterms."

She chuckled, "It's just a term."

He shook his head, "You're picking up some bad habits since you left BAU."

She shook her head, "No, Hotch. I got that from hanging out with Garcia and JJ."

He arched his brow, "I didn't."

"It's a girly thing."

It was his turn to chuckle, "Seriously? You didn't just say girly."

She shrugged, "Hey, I'm still a girl." And sashayed away from him.

He watched her and muttered, "Yes you are…"

His cell phone buzzed, "Hotchner."

It was Morgan.

…..

"What happened?" Hotch and Emily arrived at the accident scene half an hour later. There was an ambulance next to Derek and O'Neil.

A tow truck was pulling the SUV from the ditch.

"Are you two okay?" Emily was standing in front of her agent, a paramedic attending to her injuries.

"I'm okay, Emily. Agent Morgan did a great job saving us." She nodded over to Morgan.

Emily turned to the paramedics for confirmation.

He nodded, "Don't see any contusions…no sign of concussions…that Agent did good gettin' out of the ditch." He nodded. "I'd seen worse."

"So…."Emily persisted. "What was it?"

"'Possum." A fireman came by holding the carcass. "Pretty good size!"

Emily wrinkled her nose at the sight of the creature. "Oh my god! What the…?"

"It's an Opossum or 'possum. Makes good soup or stew. But we won't be doing that with this one here. Been run over pretty good by your Agent." With that he flung it out into the land. And smiled at the federal agents, "The coyotes will 'preciate free food later…or buzzards, whichever catches a whiff of it." He nodded at them and walked back to his vehicle.

Emily and O'Neil shook their heads as Emily groaned, "I'll never eat meat ever again." Paris muttered.

The paramedic grinned, "There, you're shining like a pretty penny again, Agent. Good to go." He gave them a nod and packed his bags and left them alone. "I'll send Big Daddy the bill." He chuckled as he left.

"Don't know 'bout these Southern humor…?" Paris stared at him. "Nice 'ceps though."

Emily chuckled and began, "Are you sure you're okay, Paris?"

O'Neil nodded as she grinned, "Oh yeah…you know me, tougher than you think." She stopped and looked at her supervisor assuringly. "Emily. I'm fine, hey I grew up in East Los Angeles; we're tougher than you think."

Emily nodded, "Okay. I trust you."

Paris nodded.

On the other side of the ambulance, "Just scraps and bruises, Hotch."

Hotch nodded at Morgan, "Thank goodness."

Morgan glanced over to where Emily and Paris were conversing, "I can't believe it was an animal…I thought I hit a person."

"It could have been, Morgan." Hotch assured him. "You saved both Agent O'Neil and yourself. She owe you."

Morgan shrugged, "Not a prob. She'd do it if she's driving."

Hotch eyed him, "Morgan, she's lucky to be alive, the State Trooper told me you did a hell of a job keeping the SUV from doing more damage than it would have been and you were coming onto a curve in the dark."

Morgan frowned as he gave Hotch a contemplative nod, "What do you want me to say, man?"

"Nothing, Morgan…just …you'd done a job saving yourself and Agent's O'Neil's life."

Derek nodded, not expecting a kudo from Hotch. After a moment's pause, he said, "Any latest news?"

Hotch nodded and told him about Alex Blake's phone records finds.

"What are we waiting for?"

Hotch held his hand up, "It's been handled. LA State Troopers are patrolling I-10, and Coast Guards are activated."

Morgan nodded, "That's good, that's a start."

"Yeah…speaking of starting…" He told Morgan about the drug trafficking rings and the broadening spectrums.

"That's DEA and ATF's backyard." Morgan nodded.

"That's Emily's line."

Morgan grinned, "She's still part of us, Hotch."

Hotch arched his brow and nodded, "Once a profiler…" he shrugged.

"…always a profiler." Morgan finished Hotch's sentence as he nodded.

"Look at you two old ladies!" Emily teased them as she and O'Neil stood near them. "Ready to head back to the PD?"

Morgan glanced over to Hotch who shook his head, "I have not missed her damn mouth at all." He walked towards the SUV.

Hotch muttered, "Yeah me too."

Emily chuckled, "Yeah…you did too! Let's go catch some bad scumbags and bring those pretty babies home to their grandmas!"

"There are days when I really hate her mouth!" Morgan mumbled as he started the ignition.

"And I should have left you on the side of that ditch with that 'possum, Morgan!" Emily exclaimed!"

"Get in the car, Princess!"

….

While driving back towards town, they received words from Garcia that there was a traffic stop and LA State Trooper found four teenager girls in a covered van.

"Where is Alexa Yarborough?" Emily asked over the dispatch. She was the younger of the 2 of Trisha Yarborough's daughters.

_She was not in the van, Emily._

…..

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Many apologies for the late late posting!

.

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 5

.

Glaring blue and red sirens all around Bossier Parrish PD as JJ was giving a press conference releasing a picture of 12 year old Alexa Yarborough and her abductor, Colt Tucker.

"We believe he's armed and dangerous," JJ continued. "Please if you have seen them, call the FBI or your nearest Parrish police department. Do not approach him on your own. Thank you."

She nodded at the multiple cameras and stepped away from them ignoring the various questions the reporters called out to her.

Hotch and Emily joined JJ soon as they stepped into the PD.

"Any word?" JJ turned to the agents.

Emily shook her head, "Still searching, Jayje." Her cell phone buzzed and it was from her team in Quantico. "Prentiss….I hope you guys have better luck than we have here."

"We do, as a matter of fact." It was Chili.

Emily smiled, "Please…let's not wait for an invitation…Chili-man."

"We're tracking Colt Tucker's phone records, which BTW…is not very discreet…and loads of help for us…"

Emily rolled her eyes, "Chili…cut the chit-chat."

"Okay, boss…getting to it; it was actually a joined effort with BAU's lovely Garcia…"

Emily cut him off, "Oh my gosh! Chili…I said cut the damn girly gushing will you? And give it to me straight?"

Chili sighed and finally said, "Colt Tucker has a regular cell number he calls to Lake Charles, and he just made a call five minutes ago."

Feeling excited, Emily grinned, "Thank you, Chili…See, that wasn't so hard to say it. And for that, I'm gonna treat you to a Triple Grande Chili Enchilada when I get back to VA! Thank you! Oh…you can ask your new girlfriend her choice of foodie, my treat."

Chili chuckled, "Well, she's not my new GF…yet. We're still on page 1. No hurry. And she doesn't know about my Angelique yet. You know women scattered when they find out about her but I'll take the food order boss! Extra on the jalapenos."

"She'll scream when she finds out about Angelique. Gotta run!" She turned to Hotch and relayed the news and rushed to the dispatchers.

"We need a helicopter, Sheriff Dean." Hotch faced the LEO.

The man in question nodded as he left, "I'm on it, Agent Hotchner."

Emily felt a tug and turned and saw a teen; it was Alexa's sister, Breanna Yarborough.

"Excuse me?"

"Hey, Breanna?" Emily smiled at her; the grandparents were standing next to her.

"May I come too?" She was on the verge of tears.

Heart breaking, "Oh honey," Emily shook her head, "We don't have room…"

"Please, Alexa's gotta be frightened." Breanna looked at her grandparents. "She's scared of him…him. He was very mean to us."

Emily frowned.

Mrs. Denton spoke, "Agent, let her go with you…if you find Alexa, Breanna will be a comfort for her…they're always together."

Emily nodded, "Very well, makes sense." She looked at Breanna and smiled, "Okay Breanna, you have to listen to us no matter what happens."

The teen nodded, "Yes ma'am, I will."

Emily held out her hand, "Come with me, let's go get your sister back."

"Thank you, Agent." Mr. and Mrs. Denton nodded to Emily as the teen holding onto Emily tightly as they exited the PD to the awaiting helicopter.

….

Flying over land after land, Hotch and Emily kept their eyes peeled along the Interstate; they were on the lookout for a black truck. But it was no ordinary black truck; it has been custom-designed with running lights along the door panels and the bumpers. Which the FBI agents and State Troopers were thankful for.

Colt Tucker hadn't known his preference for vanity trucks was going to cost him his notoriety.

An APB was placed on him although he had several prior warrants for possessions for illegal drugs and distributions.

Every Law Enforcement of Agencies was on the hunt for that one individual.

But one agency in particular; the FBI, and Emily Prentiss and she wanted Alexa Yarborough alive.

Her people had found out that the slavery traders wanted Alexa after Colt had posted some pictures of her in several explicit poses. It had made several of her team sick even though they had been in this field for some time.

Chili did not show Garcia these particular set of photos to her; he knew it was not for the non-CETaF folks.

Emily had concurred with him. She had seen them and her stomach had almost roiled with revulsion; she swore in several languages after that.

Chili shook his head as he blushed even though he did not understand any of what she had said but he caught the gist of it and agreed.

"Chili, anything from State Troopers?" Emily key'ed into her mic.

"That would be a negative, boss and your ETA is 60 minutes from Lake Charles." Chili fired back from Quantico. "Oh, BTW…Ice Queen called…she is in a spite-fire mode about you ignoring her phone calls…heads are rolling off the chopping blocks. I'm surprise BAU has not zing'ed back at you….just FYI, boss."

Emily frowned as she turned to Hotch, "Do you know about this?"

He paused for a moment before he nodded and key'ed in his microphone, "Yes, I did. JJ is trying to deflect her. She's trying to tell her this case is taking priority."

"Look Hotch, I appreciate the help but I can manage her."

Hotch spread his hand out which was not much in the confines of the helicopter, "I understand but when she called and you're ignoring her and she calls me, I have to explain to her why."

"Hotch…"

Hotch held his hand up, "Em…this is not the place or time to discuss this." He glanced at the Sheriff and Breanna.

Emily, catching his look, nodded, "Okay, thanks for the heads up." She glanced over to the Sheriff and said, "Sheriff Dean, this Colt Tucker…have you met him personally?"

The Sheriff nodded, "Oh yeah, several times." He looked out the sky, "Not someone you'd like to take home to meet your folks. He's trouble, that boy. Stays in trouble most his life but usually petty stuff, we can't get him the heavy. He's smart, you know."

Hotch and Emily nodded.

"I hope to put an end of his business, if you know what I mean."

The agents nodded again, "Yes, we do."

"Agents, Sheriff," It was the pilot. "Look down to your left, I think we have something." He pointed below them.

They glanced off to where he was indicating; there were many blue and red lights.

"Can you land your bird nearby, Charlie?" the Sheriff asked the pilot.

He nodded, "Sure thing, Sheriff. Hang on."

Five minutes later, the helicopter touched ground.

"Breanna," Emily looked at the teenager who was observing everything with bright eyes. "Stay with the helicopter pilots, will you? Do not get out of your seat."

She nodded solemnly as Emily hurriedly unbuckled and followed Hotch and the Sheriff towards the most congested area of the road.

The senior most State Trooper came forward and nodded at them, "Evening, well, Morning folks, I'm Captain Thomas Baptist, IV." He shook hands with the agents and Sheriff Dean as they introduced themselves. "Seems we have us a fugitive…he's still in that fancy truck of his." His French-Creole accent was very pronounced; Emily and Hotch were trying to understand what he saying.

Sheriff Dean, however, nodded. "He's got a kid in there with him, Cap'n."

The State Trooper nodded sagely, "Yup, I hear that…sad thing… poor young'un."

"Er…excuse me," Emily cut in. "Are we able to get Alexa out without harming her?"

The Captain glanced at Emily and frowned, "Who's Ale…Alex…"

"Alexa, Alexa Yarborough, she's the teenager, kidnapped by Colt Tucker." Emily said calmly.

"Colt Tucker?" The Captain repeated. "Who's that?"

The Sheriff tried not to laugh, "The perp."

"Oh! Hear…hear…why didn't you say so, young lady."

Emily arched her brow, "But I just…"

Hotch moved next to her and held her hand; he saw where her hand was reaching, her Glock.

He leaned in, "I don't think that's a wise move; we're surrounded by his men, we're out-numbered."

Emily sighed, "I just want to put him out of our misery."

He chuckled, "Easy, Annie Oakley."

Suddenly, there was activity beyond them as Sheriff Dean approached the agents, "Colt just surrendered."

"Alexa?"

"She's unharmed, one of the State Trooper has her."

Emily nodded as she rushed to towards her, Hotch watched after her with a small smile.

Later, Emily brought Alexa to Breanna to reunite, both sisters cried tears of relief and joy.

They hugged Emily, and even Hotch, thanking the agents for helping them. Now, they were eager to go home to their grandparents.

The FBI agents were eager to get back home to Virginia.

Case closed.

….

Not for Emily, she knew that she had to face Section Chief Erin Strauss when she returned to Quantico.

.

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 6

.

A Tall steaming cup of coffee was on Section Chief Erin Strauss' desk when she sat down.

Emily was also sitting before her, her cup of coffee half drunk.

Chief Strauss eyed the cup and stared at Emily, "That does not mean we're BFF."

Surprised at the Chief's lingo, Emily grinned, "Maretta said you have not had your third cup yet." Maretta was Strauss' secretary.

Strauss arched her brow, "Maretta talked too much."

A knock on her door before Hotch came rushing in, "Am I late?" He glanced at both women quickly before he sat down beside Emily, "Morning, Emily."

Strauss shook her head, "No Aaron, you're just in time." Reluctantly she reached for the coffee and drank from, savoring the liquid gold.

He nodded.

Emily turned to him, "What are you doing here? I thought this is a meeting between Chief Strauss and me?"

Erin interrupted her, "The reason I asked SSA Hotchner in on this meeting is because of the last case and…"

"The last case?" Emily stared at her in disbelief. "But we closed the case, no one was hurt or anything. What's going on?"

Erin Strauss paused for a moment before she began again, "SSA Prentiss, CETaF is under the direction of BAU pro temp…"

Emily stood up from her chair suddenly, "That is a bunch of bull…!"

Strauss snapped her head angrily, "Watch your mouth, Emily! I still have complete control of your Unit and I can take it away from you."

Emily shook her head, "No you don't, Chief Strauss! Andi Swann warned me about you and your need of complete control. That you had been trying to take CETaF from her since its inception."

Strauss shook her head, "That is not true!"

"Don't tempt me, Chief and I'm being really polite!" Emily's eyes were blazing.

"Emily…please…" Hotch was trying his best to grab at her shoulder but she shrugged from him and continued her way to the window.

Emily glanced over to him, "Don't you try to calm me, Aaron! You stand to gain a lot here!"

It was Hotch's turn to become angry, "Now wait a minute, Emily! I'm not trying to take CETaF from you! I don't want another Unit…I didn't know…" He turned to Strauss. "What are you trying to do, Erin?"

Strauss shook her head, "My job and the Director's, well not really his anymore."

"Oh don't give me that crap!" Emily burst out as she turned from the window and walked towards her. "Why are you really doing this? What is your agenda?"

"My agenda?"

"Yes!"

"I don't have any, SSA Prentiss."

Emily waved her hands impatiently, "Oh cut with the formalities, it's just us here. We know you, and you know us. We've been through so many shit for so many years. Be honest for once, will you?"

Strauss looked at Emily for a moment before she nodded, "Okay, this is between the three of us and it goes no further."

Hotch and Emily nodded.

Erin nodded, "Have a seat, this is going to take some time to explain."

The two sat down and looked at her expectantly.

"This directive is being handed down from the Director himself." Erin began.

Hotch and Emily exchanged apprehensive looks.

"He's stepping down as of next month." She announced.

"WHAT?"

Erin nodded, "It's not official but it'll be announced later next week. A replacement has been selected and as soon as he's confirmed by the Senate committee and sworn in, everything will be set in motion."

"But?" Hotch lead on.

Erin smiled, "Yes, there's always a but…and it's a complicated matter. The new selectee's life is threatened…"

"Already?" Emily cut in.

Erin snapped her head to her, "Yes, Emily, his family's life is already threatened. Actually, he's divorced, his daughter's life is threatened. There was a near kidnapped incident last week. I'll be heading to his current residence in Kansas but they're in the process of moving here to Virginia. Aaron, I'll be taking one of your team with me."

Hotch nodded.

"Chief, if it's involved a child, shouldn't I be assigned this case?" Emily asked.

"I agree." Hotch nodded.

Erin watched the two of them and said, "I would agree and assign you, Emily but …" She stood up and picked up a folder and handed it to them, "You two know him."

Hotch opened the folder and hissed, "Dan Reader?"

Emily shook her head, "Not him…" She groaned as she closed her eyes.

…

In the hallways of the BAU and CETaF, a very tall man almost bumped into Garcia who almost spilled her special cup of morning brew.

"Oh! Careful!" She held the cup close to her chest to avoid the collision. "That was a close one."

"I am so sorry!" The man apologized as he steered his own cup of morning brew from spilling onto Garcia. "That would have been a disaster of immense proportion."

Recognizing the voice, Penelope craned her neck up and smiled, "I know you…Chili-man!"

The man in question smiled widely, "Ah, and I know you too! Penelope Garcia! Finally we meet in person." He shook her hand.

"Yes…and well, I didn't you are such a tallish …man." She laughed.

He chuckled, "And I didn't know you're such a short-ish and more prettier than your screen showed." He blushed.

Garcia reddened, "Aw…thank you Chili, you're so nice."

His cell phone suddenly rang, interrupting their conversation.

He gave Garcia an awkward look, "Oh I have to answer this call, it's my Angelique…I'll see you around, Garcia." He winked at her as he waved and walked away into his Unit.

Garcia's smile turned sad, "Well, there goes… a good looking man…taken." She sighed dejectedly

She was about to walk off when she stepped onto something and looked down and smiled, "Well hello you."

Garcia bent down and picked up a neon yell troll and looked towards CETaF doors, "So, Chili is a fellow troll collector?"

She smiled as she pulled out her cell phone and snapped a picture of the troll and posted it to Chili; _lost a troll?_

A few seconds later, Chili texted back, _YES! I was looking for him! It's gift for someone special, I'll collect neon troll later, thnx PG! Lifesavr!_

Garcia smiled at her phone as she texted him: _you owe me nothing, fellow troll collector._

Chili: _WAM…You're troll collector 2?_

Garcia: _LOL! Of course!_

Chili: _Impressive…I'm impressed and speechless._

Garcia: _Gotta work, will hand over Neon Troll at lunch? Name time?_

Chili: _heck yes! 12pm?_

Garcia: _it's a date. Ciao._

Chili: _You got it._

Garcia shook her head, "I can't go to lunch with him…he's with someone…unless…" She thought about Emily and a smile widened….

"Hey, mamma!" Morgan came out of the elevator with Paris O'Neil. "I thought you were gonna wait for me at the lobby?"

Garcia grinned, "You were busy…chatting with Agent O'Neil."

"How did you know me?"

Garcia nodded, "Of course, I know you. Hi…it's nice to meet you. Watch out for him." She indicated Morgan.

Derek just smiled at Penelope, "She already got the 411 on me and is fine, Miss Nosy-Nosy." He teased Garcia.

Penelope smiled a little too widely, "Then she doesn't know about the little STD secret? Oopsy! Did I say it too loudly?" She 'O'ed her lips.

Morgan frowned, "Pen…I don't have any STD…"

O'Neil hesitated as she stopped smiling, "Uh…I have to get to work, I…I'll call you…later." She began to pick up her pace and walked towards to her Unit hurriedly without waiting for Morgan's answer.

Derek turned to Garcia who was still smiling widely, "Now, why would you do that, sweets?"

She shrugged, "I don't know…just because." With that she turned around and walked away from him.

Shaking his head, he followed the tech analyst to their Unit. "Women!"

….

Back in Section Chief Strauss' Office, before Erin Strauss had concluded the meeting, Emily had managed to wriggle a promise from her; if they were successful in apprehending the threat to Readers, Strauss would release CETaF from under the direction of the BAU and hand it back to Emily.

Erin Strauss had another urgent meeting to attend; one that would take her out of Quantico and several days.

"Meet me in my office?" Hotch whispered to Emily as they walked along the hallways.

Emily nodded, "Let me notify my team and I'll see you in five."

He nodded and they parted.

Five minutes later, in Hotch's office, Emily sat in front of Hotch. He had the door closed.

"Dan Reader." Hotch sat beside her as he began the conversation.

She nodded, "Yeah, Danny Reader. The Notorious Skirt Chaser in Yale."

Hotch chuckled, "I'm sure he's matured since."

She eyed him, "I hope so, the Bureau has no place for gossips like that." She shook her head as she recalled her college days, "It was a nightmare in my freshman days…Susanna was like a damn hawk and she made everyone miserable. I was so close to transfer out of Yale."

"That bad, huh?"

She nodded, "Danny hadn't help either, he made the girls wild in those days too."

"And you?"

She shook her head, "Not me, I was not interested, my eyes were glued to the books. But Susanna didn't believe me, oh no…she accused me too. She thought I had a thing for Danny too. Made my first year a living hell."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Who's gonna listen? And Susanna had a way with the professors."

Catching on what she said, Hotch's eyes almost bulged out, "You're not saying…"

She nodded, "Had a damn D on my sociology. Trust me, my parents came down hard on Dean Summers a week later and he changed it back to an A." She grinned.

Hotch leaned back, "Susanna sounds positively evil."

She pooh'ed him, "She's a piece of work but she can charm you. Her parents loaded with old money."

Hotch nodded as he returned to the folder, "She had two abortions when she was in college, before she married Dan."

Emily nodded as she was looking at her copies as well, "Indescretions."

"Again, old money can buy many things."

"Back to Danny….it seems his folks want him in the political scene and willing to pay to advance him." Emily muttered from her notes. "And he is a fast riser and it seems marriage did not work for him as well…Isabella is now 7 years old."

"Isabella seems she had been left with nannies most of her young life." Hotch continued to comment.

Arching her brows, "I can relate to that." Emily mumbled; recalling her years of being left with nannies herself while her mother traveled to countless countries as an ambassador.

Hotch looked up from his folder and watched her, "Regrets?"

She shook her head, "Not at all, I used them as experiences gained."

"Do I detect a hint of resentment?"

She leaned over to him, "Don't profile me, Aaron. Besides," She leaned back and smiled, "You've psyche eval while I was recovering a couple of years ago, remember?" She was talking about the Ian Doyle case.

He nodded, "And you passed with flying colors." He continued, "Going forward with this current situation. Strauss does not want to make a big fuss and that's what we'll do."

She nodded, "Isabella Reader has just become my priority and I have to find her scumbag before anything happens to her."

"Your scumbag is also my UnSub scumbag, Emily." He smiled at her. "It looks like we are working together again."

She nodded as she was looking down on the file, "Yeah, it looks like it."

"No problem?"

She looked up, "No, not at all, Hotch. I'm sorry…I was reading this file…noticed this…Susanna Reader, Dan's ex-wife, she filed for divorce when Isabella was only 2 years old, that's five years ago. She did not pursue full custody of Isabella until three years ago when Dan was in the running for FBI's Director's title. But here's the catch…she recanted her story; she said Dan made her not pursue full custody, telling the courts she was not of full mental capacity." She looked up at Hotch. "What's going on?"

"Sounds like there's more to the whole matter than it seems."

"And Isabella is caught in the middle of it." Emily was biting her nail again, Hotch observed.

"And it still is." He reached over and tugged her hand off her mouth and shook his head, "Bad habit, Em."

She smiled, "Sorry."

He grinned, "Just like Jack…when he's in the middle of something."

She chuckled, "Only Jack's cuter and I'm not anymore."

He gave her a critical look, "I'm not sure, you can be a little bit cuter if you tilt your head…to your right…and frown…there just like that. Well, close to it."

"Hotch…I'm not Jack." She shook her head. "He is much cuter than me. Stick with him."

He chuckled, "I will."

They stood up together, signifying their meeting was over as they walked towards the door. "We must do this every morning."

Emily nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that, provided we don't have cases and out of town."

He nodded, "Agreed. Maybe tomorrow morning?"

"Same time?" She offered. "We'll also keep each other updated on the Readers."

He nodded again, "That sounds great, see you tomorrow, Emily."

"And you, Aaron."

…

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 7

.

"Go Away!"

"Isabella…"

"I don't want to go with you…I hate you! I hate you!"

Dan sighed as he walked to the door of her daughter's room but he turned back at the last moment, "Isa…"

"NO!"

"You'll like it in Virginia, Bella."

Placing her hands on both ears she shook her head, "Get out of my room!"

Dan left and met Erin Strauss in the hallways, as well as Dave Rossi.

Dan shook his head sadly, "I don't know what to do with her, she's like her mother."

Dave and Erin exchanged glances as Erin stepped up, "I'm certain she'll come around, Mr. Reader."

Dan shook his head, "Call me Dan." He sighed as his assistant approached and handed him some folders for him to sign. "I thought this move might do her some good; add some stability in her life."

"Maybe you should let her be alone in her room for a while," Dave suggested. "It can't hurt anyone or her."

Dan turned to Dave, "I guess not. But Susanna is coming, she wants to see her and is trying to convince her to move to Delaware." He shook his head vehemently. "I don't like the idea. She's not going to have Isabella; she'll just hire a whole round of nannies for her."

Dave and Erin stared at him; both wanted to say, _isn't that what you're doing currently?_

"Thankfully the court had grant me full custody of Isabella and Susanna can't be alone with her."

The veteran agents nodded and let the leading nominee vent out his frustrations as he continued to walk down the hallways and soon answered his cell phone.

"I hope Aaron and Emily have more luck than we do." Dave muttered as they stood still and watched Dan Reader on his cell phone.

"This is going to be a very long assignment. Dave, do what you can with Isabella." Erin shook her head as she followed along, leaving Dave behind.

Just as Dave was about to stand by the little girl's door, he saw the knob moved and the door opened.

He turned and saw a pair of brown eyes staring back at him, Dave arched his eyes, "Hello? Are you spying on me?"

The door closed without a word but soon opened again, this time, the eyes were gone; Dave saw it as a sign of invitation.

He opened it wider and stepped in, looking around and saw the little girl sitting on the large window sill.

"Hello?" Dave called out.

Isabella ignored him as she continued to watch outside.

Approaching tentatively, he saw she had a worn out teddy bear on her lap, she was picking at one of its ear.

"What's his name?"

She shrugged but ignored him as she continued her observation; below stairs and outside there were people busy moving and packing things.

"I have a dog, his name is Mudgie; he goes hunting with me whenever I'm in the country. He looks just like your teddy bear but not with that scraggy ear. Have you been chewing on it? You know bears don't like it when kids chew on their ears? It drives them crazy."

Dave saw her pursed her lips; she was doing her best not to laugh.

He was making headways it seemed so he continued, "When my Mudgie was little, he had a teddy bear too. In fact, he went through several teddy bears." Dave sighed dramatically. "You should see the stuffings all over the house he left behind, it was very messy."

This time she giggled.

Dave smiled at her, "Mudgie is now quite old but he still sleeps with an old teddy bear he wouldn't let me throw away." Dave pointed at her stuffed animal, "Do you sleep with him at night?"

Isabella nodded as she gathered the teddy bear close to her, "This is Tedda, he's my best friend since I was little. He goes wherever I go too."

Dave reached out and shook a paw, "Hi Tedda, nice to meet you, my name is Dave. Do you think you and Isabella will like it in Virginia?"

Isabella smiled, "Silly, Tedda is a bear!"

Dave chuckled, "Bear has feelings too! So? What do you think, Tedda? Can you ask Isabella if she wants to go to Virginia with her daddy?"

Isabella buried her head into her stuffed animal for a moment before she raised her head up and nodded but she frowned when she looked down and out of her window and saw a man and woman stepping out of an expensive car.

"Do you know them, Isabella?" Dave saw her worried and scared expression.

"That's Mommy and Uncle Steve."

"Uncle Steve?"

She nodded, "He's not a very nice man, he's always yelling at me when Mommy is not in the house and he makes…." She clammed up and buried her head into her stuffed bear again.

Her room's door slammed open suddenly and the man and woman rushed in, "Isabella!" Susanna's high-heeled shoes click-clacked into the hard wood floor as she sauntered into the room, ignoring Dave. "Come and give Mommy some sugar!" she had spread her arms out.

Dave almost choked; Susanna had over-powered the room with her alluring and overly spicy sweet perfume; Dave's eyes began to water as he blinked several times and swallowed hard.

Isabella reluctantly jumped off from her place and gave her mother a hug and a kiss on her heavily made-up cheek.

"Oh…such a darling child." Susanna beamed.

It was then she noticed Dave's presence and stopped smiling, "Who are you? Aren't you a little old to be Isabella's nanny?"

Arching a brow at her, "I'm SSA Agent Dave Rossi, FBI."

"Oh." Looking bored, Susanna gave him a dismissal glance. "Do you mind? I'd like a private moment with my daughter?"

Dave shook his head, "I'm sorry, ma'am." Dave made sure he emphasized on the ma'am and almost smiled when he saw her frowned. "Committee-Select Reader had stated Ms. Reader is not to be left alone."

Susanna walked before Dave; she was almost nose to nose to him as she said angrily, "Look here buster! Isabella is my daughter and if I want to have a private moment with her, I will have a private moment with her! So, get out of her room…NOW!" She pointed at the door angrily.

Dave shook his head calmly, "I'm sorry ma'am. Mr. Reader had briefed me of your on-going custody case and you are not permitted to be alone with Isabella Reader at all times. And if you have a problem, you will have to address the matter to either the court or Mr. Reader."

Susanna gritted her teeth as she began to growl at Dave but he would not budge.

She stomped out of Isabella's room with many expletive words and slammed the door as she left.

A few seconds later, Isabella stared at Dave who was grinning and said, "Wow…nobody has ever talked to Mommy like that! That is cool!"

Dave shrugged, "It may be cool to you but I'm older than your mommy and I'm doing my job to protect you."

Isabella smiled, "Thank you Dave. You're the first person that says the nicest thing. Do you live in Virginia?"

He nodded.

She smiled, "I want to go and see Virginia…and maybe if Tedda can meet Mudgie?"

Dave bent down to her level and looked at the worn out teddy bear, "Well, if it's okay with your daddy…we might be able to arrange something about it."

"Will Mudgie eat Tedda?"

Dave chuckled, "No…Mudgie is getting too old to eat teddy bears…he hunts birds now."

"Cool!" Dave was holding her hand as he led her out of her room and down the stairs as everyone was watching them even her father who had stopped talking to Susanna who was talking angrily beside him.

Erin smiled approvingly at Dave.

…

"So what made you collect trolls?" Chili began the conversation; he and Garcia were at the Bureau cafeteria. The bright yellow neon troll was back to its original owner.

Penelope smiled as she stared at the yellow-haired troll standing in between them on the table, their lunch half consumed, "You know we work in the most darkest and most awful and disgusting world."

He nodded.

"I'm not the type who can forget easily about those scumbags and the pictures on the screens that flashes constantly…" She waved her hands all over the pace in panic as she recalled some of the vivid scenes.

"Hey, hey…" Chili leaned over and grabbed her hand and held it. "It's okay…I mean it's not okay, okay but I understand." He smiled at her. "CETaF deals with one of the worst scums in the Universe and I'm going to spare you the details but I understand. The trolls are your happy place."

Garcia stared at him for a long time.

Chili felt awkward, "Uh…getting uncomfortable here…did I say something wrong or do I have a piece of bread stuck between my teeth? You know it's really embarrassing when that happens on a first lunch date with a babe…"

"OMG! What did you just call me?" Garcia uttered.

Chili frowned, "Was that an offensive chick thing?"

She shook her head, "Say it again, please?"

"Which one? Offensive chick thing?"

"No…First lunch date. Do you really mean that?" She uttered tentatively.

He nodded, "Is that okay? I mean you're not married or something?" He glanced at her left hand.

Garcia blushed, "I'm not married or something. I'm very single." Then she recalled he had this mysterious Angelique and stopped smiling. "But you…you are not single…right?"

Chili nodded, "Yes I am, I…"

They were both interrupted by their cell phones; text messages from their respective Unit Chiefs.

Both TAs stood up at once and said, "I have to go!" they uttered at the same time and stared into each other's eyes and laughed. "We have a case."

…

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, folks…this chapter and subsequent ones will not really be criminally minded case but more involving the bureau stuff but…we'll have Hotch and Emily as the two (of course) bicker over this 'case' **

**.**

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 8

.

The BAU and the CETaF team were gathered in one large conference room except for Garcia and Chili; they were in their special computer room equipped with their high-tech software although they were patched into the conference room via two large screens.

The BAU team noticed Dave Rossi and JJ were missing as well.

"Where are Rossi and JJ?" Morgan directed the question to Hotch.

"They are on another assignment."

"What assignment?"

Hotch shook his head, "Morgan, I'll answer them in due course."

The dark-skinned agent frowned, "Hotch, what the hell is going on? What is CETaF doing here? Do we have another case?"

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Morgan," Hotch eyed him. "Will you please?"

Morgan stood up, "Look, all I'm asking is, are we assigned a case or not?"

Hotch shook his head, "This is a complicated matter, Derek."

"How complicated?"

Hotch looked around the conference room before he answered, "I don't have to tell everyone here that what Agent Prentiss and I am briefing is case sensitive and it does not go further than this room," he turned to the two tech analysts, "and you two." Agents Paris O'Neil and Spencer Reid nodded.

"Director Foster will be announcing his resignation next week." Hotch said as he and Emily watched their reactions.

They were surprised.

"Why?" was the general and consensus queried.

"He is at this moment placed under investigation per request from Section Chief Erin Strauss and Assistant Director Thomas Holt of Internal Affairs."

"Chief Strauss?" Morgan's brows arched high. "On what basis?"

"He is being accused of sexual harassment" Hotch shook his head.

"Hotch, these are serious charges."

Paris O'Neil nodded, "I've heard rumors…I didn't know how high up they had become."

Hotch nodded, "Rumors or not, we had to treat them seriously and act appropriately."

They nodded. "That's why IA is handling this as well as Section Chief Strauss but that's not why I brought these two teams here."

"Where is Emily, anyways? Why is she not here? Is she not in charge of CETaF?" Morgan challenged him, "Or is she being replaced?"

Hotch shook his head, "Emily is still head of CETaF except I'm over her per Chief Strauss at the moment."

Morgan frowns deepened, "Why is she overriding everything, Hotch? What the hell did Emily do?"

"Nothing!" Hotch was beginning to get agitated with Morgan. "You really need to back down, Morgan."

"Why?"

"Stop questioning my every move, Morgan."

The other agents were sitting uncomfortably in their seats, looking everywhere but Morgan and Hotch.

"Why shouldn't I? I mean, is something going on that we shouldn't know? And you haven't answer me; where is Emily?"

Luckily for Hotch, the door to the conference room opened at the right moment and Emily came in, "I'm here, Morgan. And no, I'm still Unit Chief of CETaF. Although I am under Hotch which I don't mind at the moment until a new Director of FBI is appointed. I'll have full control again." She smiled at Hotch as she sat down next to him before she turned to Morgan, "But Morgan, this is not about control or non-case. We have a serious Bureau problem and until Director Foster is proven guilty of his charges, we are to give the Bureau full protection."

Hotch nodded, "That's why Chief Strauss, Dave, JJ and several key agents are not here."

"Where are they?"

Hotch shook his head, "Sorry," Hotch answered, "Until the problem is fixed, we cannot divulged their whereabouts for the moment."

"Are you saying we can't be trusted?" Reid leaned forward.

"Sorry Reid," Emily shook her head, "I know it's hard to fathom but this is a bigger problem than we thought."

"Than what are we here for?" This was from Chili on the screen.

Garcia nodded.

Emily pulled out a flash drive and inserted into a comm panel and it showed Dan Reader as well as Isabella Reader.

"This is our case." Emily began.

"Who are they?" Chili asked. "Cute kid…Is she missing?"

Emily shook her head, "No…and let's hope she won't be, Chili."

"This is Dan Reader, he is the FBI-committee selected nominee; age 39, divorced. Yale graduate…"

"Hey…that's where you're from, Emily!" Reid interrupted excitedly; the room snickered over his excitement as his face blushed.

Emily smiled, "Er…yes…I knew him briefly…he was a Senior and I was a Freshman."

"This is Isabella Reader; she is 7 years old, daughter of Senate-selected nominee. Isabella had been targeted for ransom and kidnap in the past. Our bureau had thwarted unknown/would be kidnappers. They got away before they were successful. They had not been in contact since." Emily looked up, "That's a month ago."

"So….you think they will try again?"

She nodded, "Oh yes, especially now that Dan Reader is about to become the new FBI Director, it's going to place Isabella in a more public position."

"Where is the mother?" Reid asked.

Emily turned to him, "They are divorced, as far as we know for now; she is high school sweethearts, and they went to college together too."

"Did you meet her?" Reid asked Emily.

Emily eyed him, "Er…very briefly. She's a social butterfly and not…er…my type of buddy."

Paris O'Neil leaned forward, "Was she in a Sorority?"

Emily nodded and sighed, "Not that it mattered; Keppa Alpha Theta."

Paris whistled, "Wow…one of the most prestigious houses, she's…."

Emily nodded, "Yeah, yeah…old money…"

Reid, "The fraternity system in American education was first developed at Yale in 1738. Yale students founded the first selective college organization, a debating society named Crotonia. Where two competitors sprang up. After Linonia in 1753 and Brothers in Unity…" he faded as he realized the others were staring at him again.

"Wow, and I thought I was nerding out." Chili grinned.

Emily shook her head, "This is serious, Chili!"

"I am being serious, boss. And just so you know, Dr. Reid, that was some serious stuff, I tried for Yale but they wouldn't let me in, told me I was not uber nerd enough for them so I told them to screw their own asses..bunch of SOBs..anyone who graduated from Yale is a shit…."

Reid cut him, "Emily graduated from Yale."

Chili hand-smacked his forehead, "I knew that! I was …er…" He let out long breath and said, "Can we move on to another non-lethal topic?"

"You're forgiven, Chili."Emily said generously.

Chili bowed low on the screen, "Oh thank you…boss!"

She shook her head, "Back to Isabella; and tracking down Unknown kidnappers."

"Emily," Reid leaned over. "Back to her mother, I can't help but keep going back to her, does she have joint custody of Isabella?"

Emily typed on her laptop and soon brought the court orders on the large screen for all to see, "Court awarded full custody to Dan Reader. Mother was deemed incompetent to take care of child."

"Why?"

"Previous drug uses and before she married Dan, she had two prior abortions; Dan proved to the judge that she had not wanted children, that she was not a competent parent." Emily repented.

Reid nodded.

"Why do you ask, Reid?" Emily directed at him.

He shrugged, "Sometimes, mothers are the most lethal parent when it comes to attempting to gain custody of their child." Reid replied nonchalantly.

Emily and Hotch stared at him.

…..

"Agent Jareau, this is ridiculous!" Director Foster glared at her. "I have the right to go wherever I wish to go…freely…and without any goon escorts!" He waved his exasperated hands in the air. "And I can't get on my laptop?"

She shook her head. "Sorry sir."

"I'd like to check my emails."

"I'm sorry. No emails, you know you're not allowed to use any electronics."

"This is bull."

"Sir, I apologize for the inconvenience but this is out of my hand" JJ was frustrated. "Chief Strauss has…"

He cut her off, "Where is she? I want to talk to her, NOW!"

JJ blinked, "She …she…can't be reached at the moment, sir."

"That is a bunch of loaded bull, agent!" Foster exclaimed. "You'd better get her on the phone right now or I'm gonna walk right out of this door."

JJ pursed her lips for a moment and said, "Sir, if you try and step out of this door, I'll put you down so fast you won't know what hit you and cuffed you to that chair in that corner." She indicated the chair to their left.

The Director glanced at the chair and at JJ who didn't blink and consider her threat and sighed and said in a defeated tone, "All right, Agent Jareau. Am I allowed to watch TV?"

She nodded.

"I'll just …catch up on some golf games on TV then. I'll be damned if I have to ask for permission to watch TV…." His shoulders were slumped as he walked dejectedly towards the living room and turned the large screen television.

JJ sighed as she watched the once powerful man looking so sad.

Agent Anderson leaned over to her and whispered, "How did you keep your cool? I'd be pissing in my pants a minute ago!"

JJ arched her brow, "I have a three year old…I'm used to his temper tantrums."

Agent Anderson nodded his head, "Ah! Is he for rent?"

JJ shook her head but she grinned at him, "Don't even think of it! Get your own."

….

Inside the government Gulfstream jet, Dan Reader and his daughter, as well as his staff were settled within. So were Dave and Erin Strauss.

"Good work on getting Isabella on our side, Dave." Strauss leaned over to Dave as the jet took off.

Dave shrugged, "As you commanded, Chief."

Erin frowned at him, "Don't get cheeky with me, Dave Rossi." Then she softened, "Really that was good work."

"What's the word on mother dearest?"

Erin arched a brow, "You really don't want to know…"

"But I do…was it that bad?"

She nodded and glanced over to the young girl, "Did you see the lap top?"

Dave frowned, "I have not seen that…is that new?"

Strauss nodded, "Right before we left, Susanna gave it to Isabella. She said it's a gift from Steve."

Dave shook his head, "Kind of young of her to have such an expensive toy."

"I agree but Isabella is a small child, she's already figured how to program the website and all the gizmo in the laptop. Apparently this Steve is a programmer of a software company."

"What else?"

"Susanna is still pursuing her child custody rights."

"Really? But the courts had ruled."

She shook her head, "She's re-filing. And this time, she's using Steve…they are getting married. She figured if she marries and proves she has a more stable life, the court will rule in her favor."

Suddenly, they were interrupted by Dan Reader who came to sit before them.

"I hope I'm not interrupting?"

The two agents shook their heads, "Not at all. Can we help you?"

Dan grinned, "As a matter of fact, you can…well, sort of."

The two agents exchanged uncertain looks.

"Susanna told you about her upcoming marriage to that idiot Steve?"

The nodded.

"I don't trust him at all, there's something about him…." He frowned, "Isabella's afraid of him as well and she's not telling me, no matter how I ask her."

Dave leaned forward, "Are you suspecting something?"

Dan looked at Dave, "I don't know…I trust my daughter and I'm afraid that if Susanna gets married, the court's going to award her full custody. I can't bear losing Isabella." He shook his head. "If something happens to her…"

Erin leaned forward, "Tell us what you want us to do, Dan."

Dan looked up at her, "I need a…a wife…a mother for Isabella."

Dave and Erin stared at Dan and turned to exchanged looks, "You want us to find mother for your daughter?"

Dan shook his head, "Not exactly…well…" He hand-combed his hair and looked out the tiny oval window for a moment and looked back to Dave and Erin, "Believe it or not, I still love Susanna." He shook his head. "She was my high school sweet heart and we went to college together, graduated together."

He paused.

"Granted, I was not exactly faithful to her and we had a lot of fights but," he laughed bitterly. "What couple did?" he gestured wildly. "In the end, I never stopped loving her. She gave me the most precious gift of all." He looked out and stared at Isabella and softly smiled at her. "I've only cried three times in my life; once when my daddy whooped my butt for getting a B in my report card when I was in the 2nd grade…I never did it again, second time was when Susanna told me she was going to have our baby and the third time was seeing Isabella born." Dan's eyes were brightening as he recalled those moments. "She was so beautiful…that bald head…and when she cried…." He looked up and looked at Erin and Dave and saw them smiling, "She cried the entire time at the hospital, healthiest set of lungs, the nurses said." He laughed proudly. "My baby cried so much and so loud, she started the whole nursery to cry. It was quite a commotion." They all laughed.

Dan wiped his tears and sniffed. "We were the proudest parents in the whole hospital. I think I could still hear her crying." He chuckled.

"All parents could, Dan." Erin smiled.

Dan nodded as he was brought back to the present, "So…will you help me?"

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Dave asked him.

He shrugged, "Not really…no. I mean, Susanna is moving to Virginia…God help us all! But I want to make her jealous…so jealous that she'll leave Steve and come back to me and Isabella." He turned back to them. "And she has to be good for Isabella, her background qual in defense…you know the drill…"

Dave smiled, "Like a Super Nanny slash kickass slash bodyguard slash girlfriend?"

Dan smiled, "Since you put it this way, yes."

Dave nodded, "I can think of one person who's qualified and lucky for you, she's single."

Erin smiled and nodded.

Dan frowned, "Boy…you guys are quick…who's she? I mean will she help?"

"I think she will, she's really good with kids."

Dan smiled, "Who's this super agent?"

"She's currently Unit Chief of Child Exploitation Task Force."

"Oh? CETaF?"

They nodded. "SSAIC Emily Prentiss."

…..

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 9

.

Emily and Hotch were in Hotch's office when she received Erin's phone call.

Sitting stunned, Emily shook her head, "You have got to be kidding me?"

_Absolutely not, Emily._ Chief Strauss replied. _This is not a joke, you know I don't know how._

Unsure of an answer, Emily pulled her cell phone away from her ear and stared at it, "Is this Garcia? JJ? Are you pranking me, guys? Because if it is, it's not funny. Nice try but I'M NOT BUYING INTO YOUR STUNT!" She pressed the end button on her cell phone and placed it on her lap.

Hotch was watching her with concern, "Em…what's going on?"

Emily shrugged, "I think your team is pranking me because a month ago…" Her cell phone buzzed but Emily pressed the 'ignore' button before turning back to Hotch and continued, "I did a dirty by switching JJ's ringtone to Henry screaming whenever she gets a call from Strauss." She looked slightly guilty.

Hotch pursed his lips; he was trying not to laugh.

Emily turned to look at him when he did not reply and saw his reaction and soon the two Unit Chiefs burst out laughing.

"I like it." Hotch nodded, a wide smile and deep dimples on his face when he said it.

Emily grinned, "I know! When JJ first heard it, she literally jumped out of her chair in her office!" She chuckled. "I wished I took a pic of her, absolutely Kodak moment. I think she pee'd in her pants."

Hotch held his hand up and shook his head, "Too much information here, Em."

"Sorry but you should have seen her, classic April Fool's joke."

Her phone buzzed again before she killed it. Hotch frowned, "Are you sure this is not Garcia or JJ? Who was it?"

As if she was brought back to the present, Emily stopped smiling and told him about the phone call from what she thought was from Strauss.

"…so can you imagine Strauss trying to pull a fast one on me?" She grinned. "I don't think so." She was looking down at her folder, a grin still on her face.

Hotch stared at Emily, "JJ doesn't know about Dan Reader, Em."

She snapped her head up fast at him, "Huh? Oh crap!" She grabbed her phone and pressed speed dial connecting to Chief Strauss and soon she was talking to her…and apologizing to her as well.

"I…you…what?" Hotch heard Emily's stuttering. She was gesturing all over the office as she paced about the room.

After five minutes, Emily tossed the phone on his desk and sat down with a long sigh.

Hotch glanced at her, "Uh…it's not a prank?"

Emily shook her head, "It's real, all right. And lucky for me she understood my skepticism and accepted my apologies. Oh my gosh…this is turning out to be a nightmare." She groaned. "Can I go home to my bed?"

Hotch shook his head, "That bad, huh? What's going on?"

Slowly turning towards him, Emily began to tell him of the plan.

Hotch shook his head as she went on and finally he stood up and paced about his office. "Absolutely not! This is the most incredibly insane…not to mention, highly dangerous idea!" He was glaring at her. "Did you tell them you're not doing it?"

Emily frowned at him, "Hotch, I can't refuse. I mean this is from Section Chief Strauss and a Committee-Select Nominee for the Director of the Bureau."

"I'm aware of that!" He spread his hands about him. "Why you?"

"Because I'm head of CETaF and it involves a little girl."

He shook his head, "No…you're available. Emily, think about it, they're using you as bait, that's not ethical."

Emily tilted her head slightly as she watched him for a moment before she answered, "If memory serves me right, you've used me as bait a couple of times when I was working for you here at BAU…remember the Viper?"

He glared at her angrily, "I remember, Emily."

"And what about the swinger Paul Thomas and his pregnant wife?"

She could almost hear him growl and smiled.

"This is different, Em." He said quietly.

She watched him, "How? How is it different, Aaron?"

He turned when he noticed she used his name.

"I don't know…it's just an instinct." He shook his head, "I…it just doesn't feel right as if something will happen." He reached up and touched her upper arm softly.

"Aaron…I trust your instincts but I have to do my job…I have to prove myself, please."

He nodded as he dropped his hand, "I understand, Emily. Please be careful. Promise me?"

She nodded.

"So, what's the PO?" He asked.

"Plan of Operation?" She sat down and thought for a moment before continuing, "According to Dave, Isabelle's having some bonding issues with her father and she seems to be hiding something…no, she's scared of something. This Steve, who's a very close friend of Susanna, seems to have a hold on her."

Hotch sat across from her and nodded, "Then we must break that hold."

"Dan wants Susanna and Steve to break up, so he wants Susanna to be jealous of his relationship between him and me, and hopefully me and Isabelle."

"Firstly, you'd have to build one with Isabelle without giving the game away."

She nodded, "And without her attaching to me as well."

Hotch arched his brow, "How will Isabelle react to that?"

"She's so young and all and very impressionable. And very smart." She began to chew on her fingers again.

Hotch grabbed her hand and smiled, "Stop. Quit torturing those poor nails."

She smiled at his gesture and stared at her fingers, "Sorry, they're…"

They were interrupted by Hotch's cell phone.

Hotch frowned as he answered, "Hotchner. Oh, Hi Beth!"

Emily stared at her folder again but she was not concentrating at her paperwork; she could still feel his warm hand on her wrist.

_This can't be happening!_

She looked up at Hotch who was still talking quietly to Beth on the phone.

_The warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach when he touched her was rather strange and …weird, and damn! Very nice._

"…how long? Okay…yes, I'll tell Jack. Miss you, Beth."

He replaced his phone within his jacket and turned to her and frowned. "Emily? Is everything all right?"

She was still staring at him.

"Emily?" He walked towards her, concerned. "Emily!"

Shaking her head, "Yeah…yes…" Blinking a few times. "I'm all right."

"Do you want to sit down?"

She nodded.

He guided her to the chair; she felt the tingles again where he'd touched her even though it was through a couple layers of clothing.

_Geez! What the hell is happening?_

"So…is everything okay?" She hoped her voice sounded normal.

He nodded, "Beth has to go out of town for a couple of days for some art conference."

She nodded, "Oh…good! I mean…oh…you're going to miss her...and Jack too."

Hotch nodded and watched her carefully as he said, "Yes…Jack is actually staying over at his friend's for a couple of days too."

Emily nodded, "So…you're all alone."

He nodded slowly, "Yes I am, and so are you, Emily. I was wondering if you're up for dinner tonight?"

She began to giggle, "Are you serious? You're hitting on me?"

He frowned, "NO! I...just…NO!" He stood up from his chair and stared at her, "I'm just inviting you to dinner, that's all."

She stood up as well, "Noo, your girlfriend is out of town, your son is spending the night at his friend's and you're all alone."

He glared at her as he placed his hands on his hips, "And?"

"And you're lonely!"

"I am most certainly NOT!"

"Yes you are, Aaron. I'm not any Jill that's available at a moment's notice just because I'm single."

"Look, that's not why…why…I invited you."

She shook her head, "I have to get back to work." She walked out of his office and shut the door.

Hotch stood where she had left him; dumbfounded.

"What the hell just happen?" He muttered.

Emily stood outside of his office and muttered, "What the hell just happen?" She shook her head before walking out of the BAU and back to her CETaF Unit.

She noticed Chili was wearing a goofy grin on his face as he was working on his computer.

"Glad someone got laid!" She threw a balled-up paper at the back of his head before she sat down on her desk and called up her laptop.

"Oh hey, I see Maleficent has graced us with her dark and evil self." Chili called out from his cubicle.

"Bite me, Chili." Emily uttered darkly. "Okay, my favorite agents…we have Oakland bureau calling; three missing siblings, two boys and one sweet and adorable little girl, since last night. Chili…we need satellite feed on last known location. Phone logs from parents' cells…yada, yada, yada…you know the drill." She looked up and nodded to them, "Let's find these little ones and bring 'em home."

The agents nodded and went back to their cubicles and began coordinating as Emily watched them and soon they were all immersed in their work.

As for the BAU, they were on a stand-down so they were 'playing' catch up paper work which was about three days' overdue.

Hotch tried his best not to run after Emily as he remained in his office and work on his share of never-ending paper work. His mind kept going over that morning, wondering what he had done wrong as the image of Emily running away like a scared rabbit, no, as if she was afraid of him.

Emily was never afraid of anything. Anything even when she was confronting that bastard Ian Doyle.

Heck, he himself was a bit frightened of George Foyet but he was able to beat him but not Emily…yet that image of her running away from him…he didn't like it, not at all.

…..

It was late, quite late when Hotch arrived home; he was not looking forward to an empty home without the cheery noise of Jack's laughter.

Sighing, he stepped out of his car and to his surprise, saw a familiar one next his and smiled.

"Is that invitation still open?"

He nodded, a new vigor suddenly surged within him, "Do you want to come inside?"

She shook her head, "Meet me at mine, it's over…"

He cut her, "I know where you live…"

It was her turn to cut him, "Chinese?" She opened her car door wider to show him the wrapped packages; it was from their favorite Chinese restaurant."

He smiled, "Perfect."

"Meet you in five…" She looked at him critically, "Loose the tie and jacket…it's an informal dinner, Aaron." Without waiting for his reply she stepped back into her car and drove out of his parking lot.

Tie and jacket in the back of his car as he reversed it and made it to her apartment in three minutes.

He helped her with the packages, "What took you so long?"

She chuckled, "Red light."

He frowned, "What red light?"

Together as they stepped into her apartment, they laughed.

…

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 10

.

Chili made it to work early that morning for once, his Angelique had a good morning for once. He smiled as he recalled telling her all about his lunch-date with the lovely Penelope Garcia.

Angelique was stoked, she wanted to meet her!

Chili was skeptical; many women…well, the few women he had met were not up to the task once they knew about Angelique's special condition.

"Wow, never knew someone who could turn a smile into a frown in a deca-second!"

Her voice startled Chili as he spun around and faced her, "Oh…Hey! I didn't know you're here…" His face turned beet red immediately as if she had caught him thinking of her red-handed!

Garcia chuckled as she handed him a hot foamed cup.

"For me?" He stared at her blankly.

She nodded, "Yes, Silly-Chilli." She laughed. "Who else is here at 7 am?"

He shrugged, "Well…you are."

She nodded, "I usually show up around this time."

"Thank you for the joe…I owe you one." He took it from her and took a sip and grinned, "Oh…dark and bitter, my kind of poison."

While he was enjoying his drink, Garcia began to gloss over his near cluttered desk; his three large flat screens and keyboards, around them were photos of a little girl and a woman but mostly the same little girl in different pose. Garcia saw something different about her; she was in a bed…not just a bed but a hospital bed then in a wheel chair. One of the pictures was her surrounded by trolls of many colors and sizes and shapes!

"Who is this pretty little troll collecting sweet-heart?" Her curiosity got the better of her.

Chili stopped sipping his coffee and looked at one of the photos.

"Oh…I'm sorry for prying. It's a bad habit of mine." She shook her head.

"It's okay, Penelope." He shrugged. "I don't mind, Angelique is my daughter." He revealed quietly.

"Oh…so, this is Angelique." She nodded.

"Why? You sound relieved."

Feeling guilty, "I thought for a while she was your wife or girlfriend."

Shaking his head as he smiled, "No…she is my bossy little Angel. She's 10 going on 60, I think… sometimes."

Garcia smiled, "What's the story, if you don't mind my nosiness."

Chili looked up at her, "Five years ago, my wife was on the way to dropping her off at the day care when she was hit by an 18 - wheeler who was texting while driving on I-75. Francesca was killed instantly; Angelique was paralyzed from the waist down…" He shook his head, "She'll never walk again for the rest of her life…the truck company is paying her medical bills for the rest of her life, not that it mattered." He looked at the photo of his wife. "It'll never bring back my wife… or our family ever again." His voice trailed.

Garcia looked down, a tear or two leaked from her eyes. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, Chili."

He shrugged, "I've moved on, Garcia." He rolled his chair close to her and held her hand. "And I'm…I'm hoping that you'll join me for dinner tonight and meet my Angelique? I've told her about you…and she's asked to meet you. Is it okay?"

Touched, Garcia couldn't talk as she felt a large lump stuck in her throat. All she could do was nod and squeezed his hand in return.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, "Thank you, Penelope. Dinner will be at 8…ish?" He opened his eyes as he gazed at hers.

She nodded several times, not trusting herself to answer as she quickly dashed out of his cubicle and out of the CETaF Unit but not before she heard a loud 'YES!' from Chili.

Her heart pounding as she made it into her 'lair' as she settled in her chair. "Oh my gosh! She's his daughter!" Garcia removed her glasses and tossed them onto her desk and rubbed her tear-stained eyes and began to laugh, "His daughter! He is not married! I'm so relieved!"

"Why are you relieved?"

She grabbed her glasses and put them on before turning around and saw it was JJ and grinned.

"Chili!"

JJ frowned, "Are you talking about food? At 7:20 in the morning? Seriously?"

Penelope shook her head and began to explain to her.

"Oh!" JJ began to laugh at her friend. "You were jealous all these time?"

Garcia glared at her, "I…thought Angelique was…yeah…well. You know, you're not helping at all."

JJ shook her head, "But I am!" She held her hand, "Believe me, Pen, oh yes I am." She continued to laugh.

Garcia shook her head, "OUT!"

JJ stopped laughing, "What?"

"I said out…you're not sympathetic, Jayje. OUT!" She began to bodily shove her friend out of the door.

"But, Pen…I'm…." JJ began to protest but Garcia was stronger as she felt herself being bodily pushed out of the door only to see Hotch and Emily who were laughing as they were walking towards Hotch's office.

Garcia paused in her action as she and JJ watched the two Unit Chiefs entered his office and closed the door.

JJ and Garcia exchanged frowns.

"What is going on?" JJ wondered.

"They are kind of chummy lately."

JJ nodded, "Very chummy."

"How chummy?" Garcia wondered.

"They came in together…" JJ speculated with a grin.

Garcia's eyes widened, "No way!"

JJ nodded, "Oh way…"

"But what about Beth?"

JJ shrugged, "What about Beth?"

"Oh my gosh! Don't tell me…"

JJ chuckled, "Well, they are Unit Chiefs…and …" She shrugged dramatically.

Garcia shook her head, "Wow, I never thought I'd see them together like this. I mean together, together like a …a…"

"It's not official or anything, Garcia, so don't go spreading it around." JJ warned her. "They might really be just friends and colleagues and all. Right?"

Garcia nodded, "Right. Just friends."

JJ watched her friend, "Okay, let's get back to work, cookie."

"Work…" Garcia nodded woodenly and walked back to her office like an automaton.

JJ muttered, "Sometime I do worry about that woman..." She walked towards her own office.

…

Checking her cell phone messages, Emily smiled, "They've arrived and are on their way to their new house." She looked up and continued, "I'll be at the house all day and get acquainted with the Readers, particularly Isabelle."

Hotch nodded, "I'll be stuck here all by myself." he spread his hands around his office and pointed at the pile of folders. "I think it grew overnight."

Emily laughed, "You're making it up, Aaron. And quit pouting like Jack." She waved him off. "Do your homework like a good boy, you might get a reward tonight." She gave him a wide smile.

He returned her smile, "Really? Promise?"

She shrugged, "If you finished these." She pointed at the tall stack. "Looks like it's going to be a long, long day, my friend."

He frowned, "My friend? That's not what you called me last night, Em."

She blushed hotly, "We're in your office, Aaron. Please conduct yourself appropriately."

He smiled; his dimples deepened as he picked up a folder and pretended to read, "As you wished, Unit Chief Prentiss."

She stood up and shook her head, "Oh my goodness! I'm heading out now."

He looked up from the folder, "And that's it? No…proper good bye?"

Still blushing, Emily shook her head, "No…I gave you a ...a…special er…greeting this morning so I'll…I'll see you…"

"Tonight?" He said eagerly as he set the folder down and stood up.

She nodded, "What are you doing?" She was walking towards the door.

"Seeing you out, Emily." He said softly.

"I can do that myself…the door is right there…I mean here." She pointed at it; her breathing was catching.

He grinned, "Problem?"

She shook her head, "No…No…I have to go…I'll see…"

He quickly and smoothly captured her lips and deepened his kiss as she succumbed to it.

As she sighed lustily, Hotch released her and bade her a good day, stunning her as he walked back to his desk and sat down.

"…Of all the dirty…!" She uttered in shock and quickly walked out before she decided to commit bodily harm to him! "Tonight…he's going to get it! And it's not going to be pleasurable!" She frowned angrily…and then she laughed when she received a text message from him; _Just an appetizer…don't be mad at me; want you to think of me all day while I slave in this damn office alone. AH._

Of course, all anger was dissolved as she reread his text and smiled.

Getting into the SUV, she drove towards the government assigned house for the Readers, preparing herself to greet them.

At least, she told herself, she wouldn't be meeting Susanna.

Their last meeting wasn't pleasant and she hoped Dan hadn't recognized her as well.

Emily remembered when she was a Freshman at Yale, it was during House Sorority Selection. Emily had not wanted to participate in any of these events. All she had wanted to do was hit the books, passed them and graduate.

Her roommate had other ideas….

_Tammy Nates was a party girl, and boys were all she was interested. She never liked books or anything about classes._

_How they ended up being roomies, Emily had absolutely no idea; she tried to make some changes with her Dorm Manager but it was too late, all the rooms were full. She was stuck with Tammy Nates. Yippy._

_That was how she met Susanna Reader…formerly Gallen. _

_And Dan Reader…Yale's favorite party animal, he was rich, smart, and extremely handsome. All the females were fawning over him! They were vying to be the next Mrs. Dan Reader._

_But Susanna Gallen who happened to be rich, beautiful (she was formerly Miss Delaware) as well as cunning as she used her beauty and body to graduate. They were Yale's Super couple._

_Susanna and Dan were also high school sweet hearts but the love was waning as her temper and jealousy began to wear on Dan's emotions. Dan, to his credit, truly loved her but sometimes he couldn't help himself when a pretty young lady came along and caught his interest._

_One such person was Emily Prentiss, who was unaware of it all when Tammy Nates dragged her into the Sorority House that fateful night._

_Earlier, Dan and Susanna had a full blown fight when he discovered she was pregnant and secretly had an abortion and almost bled to death!_

_His anger was not towards her but to the incompetent doctor; if she had told him, he'd been there for her._

_Susanna, still drugged up had begun to drink heavily, began to chastise him for been indifferent to her and she walked away from him, screaming "It's over Dan! We're over!" and rushed to join her sorority sisters and binged drink down the halls and began to initiate the new sorority sisters. Dan, half drunk, was left to his own device._

_That was when he saw Emily sitting alone._

_He blushed, "I take it you heard everything?"_

_She nodded, "Sorry, I tried not to."_

_He shrugged, "No worries, it's not the first time we fought."_

_She chuckled, "Sounds like final words from her though."_

_He nodded as he looked in, "Yeah, she's really pissed at me this time."_

"_Yeah, you really screwed up this time."_

_Dan turned to stare at her, and then they laughed, "Dan Reader."_

"_Emily Prentiss. I'm a Freshman."_

"_And thank goodness this is my final year."_

_She nodded, "I know, I've seen you around here…You're very popular here…well, being that you're the President of the Student Council and all."_

_He shrugged, "Yeah…it's no fun, can't hide… or be a nobody."_

"_Like me."_

_He shook his head, "NO! That' not what I mean…" He then realized she was teasing him and he laughed._

"_That's a good one."_

_She shrugged, "No problem…figured you need it…after she er…you know."_

_He nodded._

_They became silent…and awkward moment._

_The room became stuffy with smoke and other illegal things…_

_Dan suggested they stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. _

_Emily's eyes were watering so she nodded and they both left the house._

_Sitting on the veranda, they were grateful for the open air and talked more about themselves though the night._

_When they heard some soft music somewhere in the back ground, Dan asked Emily if she wanted to dance?_

_Feeling in the mood, Emily nodded._

_They danced slowly; two complete strangers, a Senior and a Freshman dancing awkwardly to a Beatles song._

_It was a strange moment when the song ended and Dan looked down at Emily and she looked up at him at the same time…and their lips touched for some unknown reason…_

"_YOU BITCH!" Dan and Emily turned towards and saw a large crowd of women, mainly a very, very angry Susanna standing before them._

…_.._

End of Chapter 10


	11. Chapter 11

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 11

.

"_YOU BITCH!" Susanna screeched at a stunned Emily._

"_Susanna!" Dan released Emily instantly and went to her, "It's not what you think…" He held her arms._

"_Don't you dare touch me, not after you touched that…whore!" She screamed at him._

_The girls around them were snickering delightfully, eager for more drama._

_Emily tried to move away from the scene but Tammy held onto her, "Congratulations, roomie!" She laughed loudly so everyone could hear. "You've made the House Sorority Finals!" she then held Emily's hand up. "Give it up for my roomie! Whoo-woo!"_

_The rest of the sorority cheered maliciously and raucously._

_But Emily has had enough for the night as she jerked her hand off from Tammy and glared at her, "I'm done here, Tammy! Good night! And get yourself a new room-mate!" She was about to step away but she found herself face to face with Susanna._

"_Oh no, you don't get away this easily, you tramp!"_

"_Look," Emily shook her head, "this is all a mistake…"_

"_Like hell it is!" Susanna screamed at her, "You fucking kissed my!"_

_Eyes widened, Emily stuttered, "You…Your what?"_

_Her face contorted, Susanna sneered, "Oh Dan didn't tell you? He gave you the same old lines he'd tell those poor innocent girls he slept and ditched." She turned and looked at Dan before she turned back to Emily and smiled maliciously, "You see, my fiancé has a very charming attitude. My daddy says he's going to make a wonderful politician one day." She smiled widely; showing off her pearly whites._

_Emily paused for a moment and shook her head slightly, "You know Susanna, if there's one thing I hate the most is a politician, present or future. Good luck with your fiancé, and if you ever call me a bitch again, you'll regret it, you over-dyed, over-perm'ed bimbo with an IQ of less than a square root of a quarter."_

_Susanna frowned as she let those words digested._

_Some of the women began to chuckle as they figured out the insult, even Dan was laughing._

_It took Susanna a little bit longer and she was incensed, "You fucking bitch!"_

_Emily had walked away when she heard Susanna cussed at her again, she stopped walking, turned back and balled her fist and rearing back her arm, planted a facer into Susanna's nose!_

_CRUNCH! Emily broke Susanna's nose; blood instantly poured from both nostrils!_

"_My nose!" Susanna screeched as she held her face. "You broke my nose!" She glared at her._

"_I warned you." Emily shook her head, "I told you not to call me a bitch." _

_Tears of pain began to leak out of Susanna's eyes, "I'm going to get my Daddy to come after yours!"_

_Dan came to stand beside Susanna, he was angry, "Oh stow it, Suss! Stop threatening everyone using your Dad's name! For once, grow up!"_

_Susanna stared at Dan in disbelief, "You…you're taking up for her…for that whore?"_

_Dan shook his head, "No, we did not do anything, Suss. It was just a kiss, it happened." He turned to look at Emily, "I'm sorry but it didn't mean anything."_

_Emily nodded, "Hey, don't apologize, I don't know you two from Adam…and it's getting late and I'm tired of all these drama crap so if you don't mind, I'm out of here." She nodded at him and left quickly without waiting a word from either of them; it was the last time she saw or heard from them._

_She ran all the way back to her dorm and packed her things quickly; books and clothes for the night and into her car and drove out of the campus._

_She called her mother and asked her to get her into an apartment while she stayed at a hotel temporarily. It was the only one time she stood below her principals and asked her mother's help._

_She changed her major to avoid her room-mate and other freshmen as well as Dan Reader and Susanna Gallen. Essentially, she became a hermit; life at Yale was hell for her until all the principle characters were gone. Tammy Nates, thankfully, did not last long after the first year; she transferred to a lesser college. Dan Reader and Susanna Gallen graduated and were soon married._

_The other sorority sisters were thankfully forgotten and gradually gone by the time Emily graduated and later joined the FBI Academy and the rest, as they said, was history._

…_._

Entering the large house, Emily scanned about her before she heard a commotion above stairs; she smiled when she heard a young girl's voice and a familiar one, and followed them.

"…this is too big, Dave!"

"Yes, it is but they are all big, _Goldilocks_. And the three bears have left the building." The all too familiar masculine voice replied with an amusing retort. "I don't think Tedda will mind."

Emily frowned and she wondered who Tedda was as she stood on the threshold of the doorway of the room.

Dave, sensing they were no longer alone, turned and saw Emily and smiled, "Hey! Look what the cat has dragged in…hello Emily, welcome to Casa Readers." He spread his arm into the room, "And may I introduce you to young Isabelle Reader?"

Emily moved in to stand beside the veteran agent and turned to smile at the young girl who was sitting in the middle of the large carpeted space.

"Hi, I'm Emily, how are you?"

Isabelle nodded at her, "I'm Isabelle," She shrugged. "I just moved in here."

Emily nodded, "Kind a big place…nothing here, where's your bed and stuff?"

Isabelle shrugged again, "The big truck is coming soon, my bed and things are in there."

Emily began to walk around the room and towards a large window, "Nice view…nice back yard. I guess, you're going to put up a swing or slide, Isabelle?"

The little girl looked up at Emily and nodded, "I don't know, maybe…if Daddy or Uncle Eric says so."

"Who's Uncle Eric?"

"He follows Daddy around all the time." Isabelle looks down at her stuffed bear as she talked about Dan's chief of staff.

Emily frowned as she saw her instant change in her body language; Dave spotted it too.

"Isabelle," Dave came towards her, "Do you not like this Uncle Eric?"

Isabelle shrugged, "He's okay…Daddy likes him, he helps Daddy with his work all the time."

"But is he …."

Isabelle cut Dave off by suddenly standing and rushing towards to the window, "Look! That's a red birdie!"She said excitedly. "What kind of birdie is that, Dave?"

Dave sighed as he and Emily exchanged worried looks before he looked out the window, "That's a Cardinal, Isabelle, it's a common bird."

"Does Mudgie kill Cardinals?"

Emily stared at Dave and whispered to him, "You told her about your hunting dog?"

He nodded. "I had to start somewhere."

Emily closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again and began again, "I hope you didn't tell her your gun collection."

He gave her a look, "Seriously?"

Emily shrugged, "I'm just saying."

He shook his head, "Give me a little credit, will you?"

Isabelle turned to them, "Can I have something to drink?"

Emily nodded, "I'm sure I can round up something from the kitchen. Would you like some snack too?"

Isabelle shook her head.

Emily looked at Dave in askance who shook his head, "Juice sounds fine for me too, Em."

"Two juice for the big bear and the smallish bear…coming right up." Emily smiled.

"You need a GPS locator?" Dave grinned, "It's a rather big house…more like a mansion or a copy of the Buckingham Palace." He chuckled.

Emily shook her head, "Ever played Marco Polo? I think I can figure my way around…See you guys…" As she walked out the door.

Dave shook his head, "I didn't know he became a game? I thought he was just an explorer?"

"Who's Marcus Polo?"

Dave shook his head, "No worries kid…long story."

"Big people talk weird." Isabelle shrugged.

"Speaking of big people, we might have to send a search party out for Emily." He winked at Isabelle.

The little girl giggled, "We might lose her and thirst to death!" She laughed at her own joke.

Dave shook his head and grinned, "Silly…I have a cell phone." He held his phone for her to see. "And she has one too."

It made the little one laughed more, "Oh yeah…I forgot!"

"Duh…" Dave rolled his eyes dramatically.

….

After four wrong turns below stairs, Emily finally found the enormous kitchen and it was an enormous one.

"Oh Em Gee!" She utter to herself as she spun around the almost warehouse-size room. "If JJ and Garcia could see this right now." She grinned foolishly. "Martha Stewart, eat your heart out."

A middle-aged woman in uniform, stepped within the room and smiled at Emily, "May I help you?"

Emily turned to her, "Excuse me, I'm Agent Emily Prentiss. I'm one of the FBI agents assigned to the… er…well, actually to Isabelle."

The woman nodded at her, "I'm Priscilla Pines, I'm the Head Housekeeper for Mr. Reader, been with his family for over ten years."

They shook hands.

"I'm looking for juice for Isabelle and Agent Rossi…he's one of my partners."

Priscilla nodded and turned to a large white recessed cabinet that turned out to be a cooler and said, "Hmmm…we have Apple, Grape, Grape-fruit, Raspberry, and Cranberry for now."

Emily smiled, "You know, I didn't ask but I think Apple juice should be a safe choice for Isabelle, don't you think?"

The housekeeper leaned out from the cooler to glance at Emily and smiled, "No one has ask for my opinion; they usually tell me what they want but yes, Apple juice is a good choice." She nodded as she dived back into the cooler and pulled out three bottles and handed them to Emily, "Here you go, Agent Prentiss."

Nodding her head, "Emily is fine…after all, I'll be in and out of this house quite often."

The house keeper nodded and smiled, "Emily it is, and please, call me Priscilla."

"Thank you. And thanks for the drinks….!" She waved at the bottles as she carried them out of the door as she almost hit Dan Reader who was walking into the kitchen!

"….Priscilla, can I have something to drin…OOF!" He grabbed onto Emily and the three bottles of juice as well.

Emily looked up with a dread, "Oh…No! Not you!"

Dan chuckled as soon as he recovered, "Well, well…we meet again, Emily Prentiss."

…..

End of Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12

Criminal Minds: Child Exploitation Task Force/CETaF

Chapter 12

.

"Chili, what if she doesn't like me? I mean what if she really hates me?"

He laughed, "Seriously? You're totally cool with her. Will you relax?"

"Yes, I'm serious and I can't relax."

He laughed, "Come on, Penelope, Angelique is eager to meet you, she hasn't stopped talking about you, she's pinging off the walls…if she could walk…that is."

She glared at him, "Oh my gosh! Don't say things like that! Not in her condition!"

"Oh yes I can, she's totally cool with it, we joke about it now."

She shook her head, "I feel as if I'm about to meet the Pope or His Holiness the Dalai Lama!"

"Now you're being absurd, Penelope." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder to assure her, "She's not going to bite, she's only 10 – ish, so far, she's harmless."

Garcia nodded as she reached for his arm and patted him, "So they all say."

He shook his head as he unlocked his door and led her in and followed. "Stay here, don't run away."

"Why? Do all your dates run away?"

He paused and turned to stare at her, "Why…how did you know?"

"Oh my god! Seriously?" She began to pale.

He began to laugh, "NO! I'm just kidding…actually you're the first in a very long while since Francesca's death."

Feeling relieved, "That's not funny, Chili." She shook her head.

He chuckled, "I thought it was, made you feel easy, shook off all the cobwebs, didn't it?"

"I don't like spiders." She glared at him.

"Well, me either but, it's still funny…come on, come meet my mommy."

He introduced her to his mother who was also Angelique's nurse. Melanie Chilton was very friendly and warm towards Garcia as she motioned her towards the large open room that used to be the dining room converted into Angelique's bedroom to accommodate her medical requirements.

"I was an emergency nurse at the local hospital when Frannie…my daughter-in-law…" her eyes teared and she shook her head, "and Angel were in the car crash…I changed and studied to be a care giver for my grand-daughter since." She wiped a tear and smiled at Garcia and continued, "I'm sorry, look at me, trying to scare away our guest."

Garcia shook her head, "Not at all. I find what you did is so brave… to sacrifice for your grand-daughter."

Melanie shook her head, "It's no sacrifice, it's my calling, I think. I've always wanted to be a nurse and I've always wondered why…I mean, my sisters were teachers or chefs but not me." she shook her head, "Now I know why," she turned to look at the bed and smiled, "It's her."

Garcia turned to her direction and gasped!

The pictures at Chili's work desk did not do its justice; the little girl lying on the bed here was much smaller.

And her hair was fiery red!

Garcia walked up to the side of the bed and saw that the occupant was wide awake.

"Hello!" The little girl smiled cheerfully, "You must be …Ms. Penelope… Garcia!"

Garcia smiled as she realized Angelique had to breathe in between to speak with the breathing apparatus. "Yes, but you must call me Pen or Penny, it's easier."

Angelique nodded slightly. "Okay."

Garcia looked about her and began to smile as she saw a large collection of troll surrounding the bed.

"Wow! I really envy your troll collection."

"I heard… you collect…them too."

Penelope nodded, "Yeah but, this is big" With that, she removed several small trolls and three larger ones from a bag and held them up for Angelique to see, "Here, these are for you."

The little girl's eyes brightened, "For me? But…?"

Garcia nodded, "Oh yeah! I heard you like the Hobbits and so I couldn't pass them up."

Angelique looked up and glanced at her father, "Did you… know about… this?"

Chili was just as surprised, "Penelope…how did…?"

Garcia grinned; delighted to see their surprises, "I just knew. Now, do you know who's who?'

Melanie's heart melt as she watched the scene unfold before her; her grand-daughter smiling and chatting non-stop, her son who had devoted his life for his daughter since the tragic accident couldn't stop staring at this unusual woman who was…well, unusual.

This Penelope Garcia, Melanie Chilton, found an instant likeness for her. A mother knows; there was no pretentious coming from her. Penelope Garcia was one of a kind. She hoped her son had finally found happiness in her. As well as her grand-daughter.

Smiling as she wiped another errand tear from her cheek, she headed to her kitchen as she put the final touch to the dinner she had prepared for them but before she did, she looked out the window and saw a flower bloomed; it was her late daughter-in-law's favorite, Pink Carnation, planted before she passed.

Melanie smiled at the bloom wondering if it was an approving sign from her?

"Is this your way of telling Chilton you're okay with Penelope?"

As if answering Melanie, a gentle breeze blew the bloom, blowing a sweet scent to the elderly woman, smiling she whispered, "I'll take that as a yes, Frannie. Rest assured, your little Angel will be well taken care of." She smiled as she continued her way into the kitchen humming happily.

…

"Hello Mr. Reader." Emily greeted him reluctantly as she held onto the bottles for dear life.

He grinned, "Please, call me Dan, you remember me from Yale, don't you, Emily?"

She stared at him in disbelief, "Er…yes…and I think it's best I address you as before as you're my…er…you'll be my…er…future boss." She shook her head; _why am I stuttering?_

Dan frowned, "Did Director Strauss spoke to you about the plan?"

Emily nodded, "Yes."

He looked relieved, "Do you object to it?"

Emily watched him, "Do I have a choice?" She shook her head before he answered, "No…I'm sorry, Mr. Reader…No, I'm okay with the plan, it's for Isabelle and Susanna's sake."

Dan nodded, "Yes, yes it is. Will you help me?"

Emily watched him for a moment before she nodded.

He smiled, "You know, it never occurred to me…I didn't ask if you have a significant other?"

Emily smiled before she shook her head, "Not at all, Mr. Reader."

He shook his head, "No…you should start calling me Dan if we are to become… closer."

She nodded, "Er, you're right…Dan. Excuse me, I have to," she waved the bottles of juice at him, "take these to your daughter, I'll see you later." With a quick nod, she almost made a quick escape but he held her shoulder.

"WAIT!" She widened her eyes but held her tongue, he continued, "How about if I join your…party instead?" he quickly glanced down at his watch and saw that it was lunch time and smiled, "Priscilla can round up some sandwiches or something and we'll all dine together…?"

Emily nodded, "Why don't we make it into a…um…picnic…yes! A picnic in Isabelle's bedroom?"

Dan frowned again, "Are you sure?"

Emily nodded and smiled, "The furniture's not arrived yet, I think it'll be perfect. Isabelle will be happy to spend time with you…and us. No staff members allowed, not even this Eric."

Dan nodded, "Okay…I'll let everyone know. He's not going to like it but he'll get over it. I mean I'm still in the house."

Emily smiled, "Oh, when you find her bedroom, you must ditch your cell phone by the door. Isabelle's rule." She made it up with a slight blush.

Dan thought about it for a moment before he nodded, "I like it, it's a deal. I'll see you in half an hour. It's been a long while since I had lunch with my daughter." He grinned widely. "And a date with a pretty woman." Before he walked to his housekeeper and began to consult with her.

Emily watched him for a moment before she shook her head and left the kitchen and headed for Isabelle's room and relayed the news.

On the way, she noticed that she had missed Hotch's texts; he'd text'ed to her that he missed her terribly and couldn't wait to see her tonight!

Emily smiled as she returned his sentiments; she realized she did miss him too as she recalled their last evening and blushed deeply.

Then she remembered another person and felt guilty; Beth Clemmons.

What happen when she return from her conference?

….

End of Chapter 12


End file.
